Prince's Hope
by New Light
Summary: Sora is a prince. Riku is a god. Sora wants to escape his marriage to find his soul mate. Riku wants to explore his domain in the mortal world. What happens when these two meet? SoraXRiku, RoxasXAxel, CloudXSephirothXLeon, LexeausXZexion, and other pairs
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well, this is my first fanfic for Kingdom Hearts on this site. There's not really much to say for this…**

**But anyway, I'm hoping that you all will enjoy this fic. So, here it is.**

**Prince's Hope**

Chapter 1

Silently, he slipped through the dark castle. He was surprised at how few guards there were and how easy it was to pass them. But he couldn't let that thought distract him. He had to leave—immediately. He couldn't stand being there any longer than he had.

He was about to turn the corner and head to the entrance when one hand clamped over his mouth and another around his waist. He thrashed around until he was suddenly turned around and was face-to-face with his twin, Prince Roxas, who was dressed in a long night robe. Sora let out a quiet sigh of relief as his brother smiled.

"Sora," Roxas smirked, gently pulling on his brother's brown hair, "you may be the older of us, but you are definitely the dumber one."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Sora snapped.

"Just take a look."

Sora pressed himself against the wall and looked around the corner. Almost all of the castle guards were right at the entrance. No wondered he never encountered any. He gave a defeated sigh.

"I cannot believe Father actually—"

"After your declaration from yesterday, what did you expect?" Roxas interrupted. He gave him a sympathetic look as he gave his brother a once-over. Sora looked ridiculous in the old, raggedy servant's clothes. But it seemed to fit with the wild hair on the brunette's head. Roxas sighed, scratching his own blonde locks. "Are you sure you are going through with this, brother?" he asked. "We can speak with father and—"

"I am through 'speaking' with him," Sora growled with venom laced in the words.

With a sigh, Roxas whispered, "Come with me."

As they walked down the vast halls of the castle that were mostly filled with paintings of past rulers, Sora reflected on the events that had led to this night…

Being the first-born son in his family, Sora was betrothed to a princess from a neighboring land. The little princess would often visit him in their families' hopes that they would fall in love. While Sora found himself as rather good friends with the princess, he never felt romantically about her. And as Sora grew older, the pressures of marriage got worse until at the age of fifteen, when he was considered a man in his palace, he had had enough. He told his father that he did not want to be married. This led to several fights until finally, just the other night, he had told his father he would flee the kingdom if they didn't cancel the future wedding. The king never did. And so, this was the night Sora had planned to take action. Unfortunately, his plans were ruined because his brother and the guards were in the way.

"Are you going to tell father?" Sora suddenly asked.

Roxas stared at him from the corner of his eye before asking, "Are you absolutely sure you really want to do this?"

"Of course! I told father I would. I just…" Sora stared at his moving feet before facing his brother. "I cannot marry Kairi! I cannot marry someone I don't love!"

Roxas nodded, accepting the statement.

As they continued, Sora felt envious of his brother; because he was born as the younger of the two, Roxas wasn't betrothed to anyone. This gave him more freedom. The freedom to love whomever he chose, no matter who frowned upon him. And he had found love in the form of a knight named Axel, who had spiked red hair and piercing green eyes, while Sora had yet to find his love.

"Roxas, where are you taking me?" Sora finally asked, not wanting to think any more about his problems.

"Out—through the servants' quarters."

Sora's eyes softened. "Roxas…" He was glad he was close to his brother.

"Hush, now; we are almost there."

After a few more minutes, they reached their destination. It was a dull chamber with a few flowerpots scattered about. There was a simple door at one end of the room, and a few windows letting in light from the moon and stars. Roxas turned to his brother.

"At the end of the room, there is a secret trap door," he instructed. "Use it to get to the underground tunnels. When you reach the surface, you will find Axel there with his horse. He will help you get as far as the heart of the kingdom. From there, you'll be on your own."

"Oh, Roxas…" Sora became teary-eyed and embraced his beloved brother.

Roxas returned it and reached in his robes for a small bag. He gave it to Sora, and at the brunette's confused face, he explained, "Did you even think about bringing any money with you?"

Sora blushed. He hadn't. He had only thought about leaving the castle. Bringing the essentials had slipped his mind.

Roxas sighed at his absent-minded brother. He then set his hands on the brunette's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.

"You know father will try to hunt you down, Sora."

"I don't care! If anything else, I am making a statement."

Roxas grinned. "Ten gold pieces say you will be dragged back here tomorrow morning."

Sora's face became very sad. "Ten gold pieces say I will never see you again."

They embraced, once more, before Roxas turned his back.

"Just leave before I change my mind."

Suddenly, a torch was lit. On the far end of the hall was a girl with red hair and midnight blue eyes.

"And where do you think you are going, Sora?" the girl asked as she walked toward them.

"Leaving," Sora replied. "Sorry, Kairi, but I cannot marry you."

"And why not?" she asked, stepping closer. "Sora, we were meant to be together!"

"Maybe as friends, but not as lovers."

Sora ran to give her a farewell hug, but Kairi pulled away. Both boys could see her free hand clench into a fist. With eyebrows knotted, she screamed, "Guards! Guards! The prince is escaping!"

In a flash, Roxas was on the girl, knocking down the torch and covering her mouth. But by then, the castle seemed to come alive. In the distance, they could hear guards starting to come.

"Go, Sora!" Roxas yelled as he wrestled the girl to the ground

Sora nodded and scampered through the servants' quarters, paying no attention to the now waking servants.

"Stop him!" he heard Kairi screech loud enough to blow away his ears.

"Pay her no heed. Leave him be!" Roxas bellowed.

Sora was able to reach the trap door. He ran as quick as lightening through the dark, rat-filled tunnel until he got to a ladder. He used it to get up to the surface and immediately spotted Axel right next to him on the back of a black steed.

"Axel, Kairi found out!"

"I know; the whole city probably does by now with her screaming."

Axel quickly took Sora's hand and helped him on the horse. With Sora's arms secured around his waist, Axel rode off through the night. It seemed like only seconds after when they reached their destination. It was in the outskirts of the kingdom with old, simple, stone buildings. Both boys dismounted the horse. Axel turned and looked at his prince straight in the eyes.

"Will you be all right, your highness?"

"Yes, I will be fine," Sora droned, rolling his eyes.

"Really? Have you thought about shelter for the night? Because I know you'll never be able to lose the others if you keep going tonight."

The prince opened and closed his mouth. The knight sighed and ran a hand through his red spikes. He pointed off in the distance. "If you go about five miles that way, you'll see a bakery. The people there will take care of you."

"You guys have everything planned out for me!" Sora pouted. "Am I really that predictable?"

"Yes, you are. We know how much you don't think things completely through."

Sora let out a small chuckle. "Worry-warts…" He smiled at his friend. "Thank you so much, Axel."

"Tis my pleasure, my prince," Axel whispered, brushing his lips against Sora's. **1**

Finally, the two bowed, and the prince watched the knight ride back to the castle. With a heavy sigh, he went off in search of the bakery.

Back in the Castle… 

Kairi was able to bite Roxas's hand and escape from his grasp just minutes after Sora left. The servants from the next room were trying to rip them apart from each other. Finally, one grabbed Kairi around the waist and pulled her as far away from Roxas as possible.

"The prince! He's escaped!" the princess screeched, kicking and screaming.

"Hush, you stupid wench!" Roxas hissed.

"Why did you let him go, Roxas? He has obviously gone delirious with that talk of not loving."

"You know he has always been like this, Kairi."

"Enough!" a voice boomed.

Roxas could feel his blood run cold as he looked up at the glaring eyes of his father. He scrambled to make himself presentable before the king and the few guards that were behind him. The servant that had the redheaded princess quickly let her go. The redheaded princess looked back at the servant, annoyed, then looked back at the king.

"Your majesty, Prince Sora—" the girl started.

"I know, I know, Kairi; your voice is enough to stir the gods," the king growled with a wave of his hand. He then turned to his second-born. "Why did you help with his escape, Roxas?"

The prince almost winced at the king's tone. It was dark and threatening with the man's anger. But he stood tall before the older man and took a deep breath.

"He needed to be set free," Roxas simply replied.

Massaging his temple, the king sighed. "Clearly, you are the stupid one," he muttered. Turning from his son, he ordered, "Meet me on the morrow in my chambers. We shall discuss your punishment, then. Now, both of you, off to bed."

The two nodded their heads and bowed before leaving for their rooms.

On top of the Castle… 

The Earth God, Riku, had been watching everything that was going on in the castle from one of the towers. He had been there since he heard a mortal girl screeching, "Guards! Guards! The prince is escaping!" all the way from the Realm of Gods. His curiosity got the better of him, so Riku just had to race down there from his home. That reason and because his brother, Sephiroth, had "asked" him to go to the mortal world and kill the wench who caused the commotion. To say that Riku's brother was furious about being woken from his deep slumber was an understatement. Riku only laughed at him when he got the order; he was used to the Head God's anger.

When he went to the castle, he found out that the scream came from the palace of the kingdom that contained his temple. Once he reached the castle, he had arrived in time to see a boy come from the ground and leave with another boy on a horse. He also saw the blonde prince fighting the princess of another kingdom through the large windows of the castle.

The events in his kingdom made Riku think of how much fun it must have been to be part of that excitement. His mischievous side was quickly taking effect as he turn back and flew to the heavens. He snuck into the Gods' Mansion and went to his brother's room. Inside, he found the Head God completely buried underneath hundreds of sheets made of flower petals. Riku reveled in the sweet aroma before shaking the large lump in the center of the bed.

"Sephiroth, wake up!" he whispered, excitedly.

A groan came from the lump before a head full of long, silvery hair poked out from the sheets and small, emerald orbs stared back at him.

"Oh, it's you," Sephiroth grunted. "Is it done?"

"No, brother." Sephiroth sat up and stared, amazed that his brother had failed to complete such a simple mission. Riku only smiled. "I want to go to the mortal world!"

Now Sephiroth knew something was definitely wrong with his brother. He set a calloused hand to the younger god's head before asking with disgust, "Why would you want to go _there_?"

"Sephiroth, you know I have always wanted to go! Please! In my domain, there is a runaway prince who just ran away from his palace! The tension is high! It's the perfect time for me to go."

The elder god wrinkled his nose. "And that is why you couldn't kill the wench who woke me up?"

"Brother, she was the instigator of the events going on in the mortal world! If I killed her now, well, where would all the fun be? You see, the prince left because he was betrothed to this wench, so if she's gone, he may go back and then things would calm down. I promise, brother, that if you let me go, just this once, I will kill that wench after I've had my fun and never ask to go back."

Sephiroth let out a loud yawn before crawling back in to his cocoon of blankets.

"As long as she dies sometime soon, I suppose you may go."

"Yes!" Riku cried and ran to his room to prepare for the next day.

**1: This fic will not have any Axel/Sora! This is just a form of respect from inferior to superior in this universe.**

**A/N: Yeah… Sorry if I've made Riku kind of childish… He actually seems more like Sora, right now… I'll fix that later… Mwa ha ha… Also, I actually really like Kairi… For now, it may seem like I'm bashing her, but that'll change… hopefully…**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well, I got some pretty good responses for the first chapter. Thanks to those of you who have read and reviewed! I appreciated it, really! There are some of you whom I haven't replied to on account that they didn't put their e-mails. Just know that I loved your responses, as well!**

**I'm so sorry that this took so long, everyone!**

**Okay, so this chapter is a little longer… over twice as long as chapter one, I believe… I couldn't shorten it in any way. Hope you all like it!**

**Chapter 2**

**In the Castle…**

In the morning, Roxas couldn't keep himself from shaking as he stood before the king's bedroom. He was pacing in front of the tall door that kept him from his father. He was glad to have it as a barrier… for now. His father's wrath was something to be feared. Axel, who was also there with him, tried to comfort him by massaging his shoulders.

"Rox, don't get yourself worked up over it," he soothed.

"But what do you think my punishment will be? We both know he favors Sora. And since I took part in his favorite's escape…"

"You'll be fine, love. Even if he doesn't like you as much, it's not as if he would have you executed. You are his son, after all."

"But—"

"No buts!" Axel teased, shaking his finger at the boy. "Now, let me announce your arrival before you go in."

Roxas straightened himself and composed himself, putting an emotionless mask upon his face. Axel smiled at how princely Roxas was and pressed his lips against the little blonde's. He brushed away a few blonde spikes, then turned to knock on the large door.

"Yes?" came the king's gruff voice.

"Prince Roxas is here to see you, sire," Axel said as he looked back at his love. He stepped back and bowed to Roxas, whispering, "Best wishes, my little prince."

With a nod, Roxas walked into the room. As soon as he closed the door, Axel pressed his ear against it.

On the other side, Roxas stood tall before his father's bed, which was facing directly at him. The king was sitting upright under the covers, supported by several pillows. His strong fingers were woven together and laying in his lap. He was staring right at Roxas with dark eyes.

"Roxas," the king's voice resonated through the room, "I have thought long and hard about your punishment—the whole night, really. Pray tell, why did you allowed Sora to escape?"

Roxas closed his eyes against his father's cloudy ones. He was glad his voice didn't betray him when he answered, "He was miserable, Father. I could not stand to see him in the pain he was in."

"What pain?" the king asked, now full of concern for his son.

"You are forcing him to marry Princess Kairi. He does not want to marry her because he does not love her, Father. Never has."

"Does not love Kairi? Of course he does, he told me a week ago!"

"He said he loved her as a friend. It is not the love that he wants with his future wife."

The king pulled down his sheets and walked toward the boy. "Love does not matter in marriage, my son, especially in our family. For centuries, the marriages of the seven great kingdoms have been arranged according to the will of the gods. Do you realize what you and Sora have done?"

Roxas paled. He hadn't taken the gods into consideration. But he knew that even if he did, he would have gladly deceived them for Sora's happiness. So, he boldly answered to the king, "He desperately wanted to find his soul mate, Father, just as I have found mine."

"So this is your fault!" the king accused, slapping the boy across the face. The sound echoed throughout the spacious room. A second later, the doors flew open, and Axel came in, rushing to Roxas's side. The blonde, who had fallen to the ground, was clutching his face in shock, for the king had never laid a hand on him before. The king, with anger boiling through his veins, continued his tantrum, saying, "You have unsettled his sense of duty by filling his head with fantasies of love and soul mates and other nonsense!"

"Sire, we had nothing to do with this," Axel insisted, "it was Prince Sora who was thinking of all that from the time he was very small; his mother, the queen (may she rest in peace), would often entertain him with stories of love. Your excellence, whatever goes on in Prince Sora's mind is purely of his own doing. Roxas is not at fault."

"I will hear nothing of this; you are a part of the problem, as well!"

"Father, please, calm down!" Roxas cried.

Silence fell on the room. The king turned from the two lovers and began rubbing at his temples with his fingers.

"Roxas, your punishment for allowing Sora to escape is to serve as Princess Kairi's personal servant for a week," he sighed. "And in addition, you are not to see Sir Axel for the entirety of your punishment."

The boys nodded obediently and got up to deeply bow before their king, then left the room. By the time Axel closed the doors behind Roxas, the little blonde was scowling. Axel turned the boy to face him.

"Roxas, are you all right?" he asked, rubbing his thumb against the blonde's reddened cheek.

"I am fine," Roxas growled.

Axel brushed back some blonde locks from the angelic face and leaned forward to kiss his the cheek. Roxas smiled and gave the redhead a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Why don't we have some fun before we start our little punishment?" Roxas suggested as he set one long finger to the center of the knight's chest and let it slither down the slim torso. He felt himself getting excited when Axel's arms began to encircle him in an embrace.

"Then let's take this to my room," the redhead mumbled.

"What did I say about your punishment?" the king's loud voice rang through the door.

Emerald pools darted to the door in annoyance, then went back to drown into ocean-blue. Axel bowed before Roxas and looked up at him from his bent position.

"How about I escort you to the princess before we part?"

"All right, then," Roxas sighed, taking his knight's hand and kissing the palm.

**In the City…**

At the sound of a pan being banged throughout the house and some yelling of breakfast being ready, Sora fell off his bed. When he sat up, he looked around and began to panic at the strange surroundings. It wasn't until a short, portly man with a pan and ladle in his hands came in the room that he began to calm down.

"Breakfast is ready, my prince," the baker announced with confusion on his face as to why Sora was on the ground.

Sora looked down at himself and smiled at his servant's clothes. He remembered how he ran five miles from the heart of the city. The baker and his wife had been waiting for him in their house, so when they saw him coming, they quickly ushered him in. After answering a few questions from their son, Entreri, Sora was led to a room, where he quickly fell asleep on the bed.

Sora was glad it hadn't all been a dream. He ran a hand through his brown spikes and began to laugh, "I did it!"

He quickly stood and ran to give the baker one of his famous bear hugs. He then left the room, singing of his victory and praising the gods.

When he reached the family room, he was greeted with a vast assortment of food.

"This looks wonderful!" Sora said to the baker's wife.

With a bow of her head, the baker's wife answered, "Our only wish is to please his highness."

Sora set his hands on her shoulders. "Please don't call me that, ma'am; I have renounced my title as the prince and future king of this land. From now on, I am just Sora."

He cupped the woman's face and brushed his lips against hers. She gasped and began to blush brightly. Sora smiled and took his place at the table as her son came scampering into the room.

Soon, breakfast came and went. Sora helped the baker gather empty dishes the kitchen for washing.

"So, your high—I mean, Sora, how long do you plan on hiding with us?" the baker asked as Sora began to scrub the plates. Entreri, who had quickly befriended the ex-prince during breakfast, was waiting for the plate so he could wash it and store it away.

"Well, I was thinking I could leave immediately after doing the dishes. I plan on being far, far away from the kingdom by the end of the day."

The boy stopped washing and looked at Sora with pleading eyes.

"You can't go, Sora!" he cried. "You just got here!"

The baker nodded. "Yes, it may unwise to move so soon; the knights and guards would all be searching the entire city. You may get caught by them before even reaching the gates!"

"Yes, but we don't know if that will happen," Sora reasoned, scrubbing a bowl. "I will just roll around in some dirt, rip up parts of my clothes, and keep my head down. They wouldn't think twice about looking at a dirty boy.

The little boy looked up at his father with wide eyes.

"Daddy, can I run around the dirt, too?" he asked.

The large man shook his head sharply. Entreri whined and went back to work. The baker's attention returned to Sora.

"Your highness, I implore you to wait a few more weeks. By then, the knights would take their search outside the kingdom."

"No!" Sora insisted. "By then, all the kingdoms would know about my escape! I need to get a head start on them while I still have the chance. Even if I stayed with the family, where would you hide me? Before even going to the kingdoms, the knights would have to search houses, so staying would be a lost cause!" Sora set the dishes down, got on his hands and knees, and bowed. "I must go. I need to get as far away from my father as possible—even as far as the Destiny Islands, if need be!"

The baker looked hard at his prince, but soon gave up when the boy looked straight in his eyes. He knew that there was no way he could stop Sora.

"All right," he mumbled.

Sora smiled brightly, and he turned around to the sink to finish the dishes.

**Back in the Castle….**

Roxas was sulking in front of Kairi's door. He was purposely stalling from his punishment. Axel was with him, too, and was getting annoyed by the silence. He crossed his arms as he watched the smaller boy glaring at the door. He let out an irritated sigh.

"All right, I'm leaving," he announced.

"No, Axel, let's savor these last few moments we have together," Roxas ground out, glaring at the door. "When she comes out, then you may leave."

"You weren't thinking of me before we spoke, much less 'savoring these last few moments we have together'. I've known you for a long time, love, and I know how you think. You were contemplating on how to kill Kairi."

Roxas turned his head and batted his eyes at his knight while innocently saying, "Oh no, Axel, I would never do anything like that!"

Axel sighed and set his hands on the blonde's shoulders.

"Look, Roxy, as much as I don't want to be separated from you, I need to work. After all, no one else knows I helped Sora leave. A simple knight like me who doesn't have much of a noble status doesn't have the same kind of luck with a furious king as you do." Axel hugged the prince before whispering, "Now, let's start working on that punishment before the king comes and makes it worse. And don't kill the princess. Got it memorized?"

With that, Axel kissed the prince's head and walked back the way he came while whistling a tune.

"Axel—wait!" Roxas cried.

Axel answered by quickening his tune and waving a hand back at him.

"Stupid knight…" Roxas muttered as he faced the door blocking him from his nightmare. He glared at it bitterly. With a scowl held firmly in place, he knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came Kairi's voice. She sounded a bit shaky.

"It's me, R—" Before he could finish his sentence, the door opened, revealing a teary-eyed Kairi. Her midnight-blue eyes looked straight into his ocean-blue ones and then began to water. She pulled the prince to her own body and buried her face in his chest.

"Oh, Sora, you are back! Please don't leave me ever again!" she sobbed.

Roxas was almost shocked as she did this and tried to push her away. She only held onto him tighter.

"I am not Sora," Roxas growled, trying to push her more.

"Of course you are. No one else in the kingdom has your eyes."

"Kairi, I have the same eyes as him; we're twins." The blonde gave up and let her cling on him.

"No, Roxas's eyes are different, So—" At that time, she finally looked up and saw just who it was she was crying on. She quickly jumped away in embarrassment and slammed the door right in his face.

Roxas crossed his arms at the princess's rudeness.

"Let's try this again," he muttered to himself. He cleared his throat and said, "It's me, Roxas."

"Good morning, Prince Roxas," Kairi greeted through the door. "Umm… I am sorry for mistaking you for Sora."

"It is all right, your highness," Roxas answered with a roll of his eyes.

There was a short pause, followed by what sounded like a foot stomping behind the door.

"What are you doing here?" Kairi asked, frustrated. "You've never visited me before! Have you come to tease this miserable wench?"

Roxas kneeled in front of the door, keeping his head bowed before answering, "You are not a wench, my lady. And, if it may concern you, I miss Sora, as well."

Another foot stomp. "Why are you so formal with me? You despise me!"

"No," Roxas said. He took a deep breath and continued, "For seven days, my opinion of you does not matter."

The door opened to reveal a single midnight-blue eye squinting suspiciously at him. "And why would that be?"

"My lady, my punishment for letting Sora escape is to be your personal servant for a week."

The eye narrowed even more. "Really?"

Roxas growled, "My father's orders."

The door opened, and Kairi fell to her knees, draping her arms him.

"Then your first task is to comfort me for my loss!" she cried and began to sob again. Roxas looked down at her and decided to let her cry.

**Back with the gods…**

Riku woke when he felt a hand caressing at his face. He pulled away from the touch, in favor of the warm mass that was behind him… breathing warm air on his neck… A chuckle reached his ears. The hand began to slide down from his side to his hip. It then began to move toward his stomach…

Wide-eyed, Riku leaped from the bed and looked back. In the bed was the God of Darkness, Xemnas, with an amused smile on his face.

"Ah, Riku, that was priceless!" the god laughed.

"Xemnas, what are you doing in my bed—again?" Riku hissed.

"I'm only teasing you," Xemnas replied. "We all know you are the most… responsive… of the gods in the realm."

Riku opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. He turned to find the mortal-like clothes that he had conjured up the night before. Xemnas turned on his side as soon as he saw the god start to strip.

"Well then, I am glad that I won't be around tomorrow morning," Riku mumbled.

"Where are you going?" Xemnas asked.

"Seph is letting me spend the next few days in the mortal world."

Riku came around the bed to show his clothes. The smaller god was dressed in white trousers, a black shirt with a white vest, and black gloves. In an arm, he held a cape. Xemnas almost licked his lips at him and almost forgot about his plans.

When Riku suddenly let out a small cough, Xemnas got out of his fantasies and stood before him, clamping his hands on the smaller god's shoulders, demanding, "Why?"

"I need to kill someone."

"And you cannot do that from here?"

"It would be more interesting from down there."

Xemnas rolled his eyes. All the gods knew Riku was fascinated with the mortal world so hearing something like this wasn't much of a surprise. What _was _surprising was that Sephiroth had allowed it.

Xemnas turned his head to Riku and asked, "Must you go, Riku?"

"Xemnas, you are as worrisome as Sephiroth," Riku laughed.

There was a glint of anger in his cousin's eyes that made Riku feel excited. It was a bit of a rare sight for him to see.

Riku bowed his head at his fellow god and left the room. In an instant, Xemnas was by his side with a frown on his face.

"Why is it that Sephiroth and I are subject to comparison?" he muttered.

Riku stayed quiet; he enjoyed moments like these when he was with his cousin. When Xemnas was concentrating on something other than him. But it was true. Xemnas had always been as concerned with him as his brother…

Riku looked at Xemnas from the corner of his eye.

"I will be leaving now, cousin."

Xemnas turned to face him.

"Just kill whomever you need to and come back to me soon. I plan to overthrow Sephiroth, but to do that, I need you."

"Another one? What does this plan entail this time?" Riku asked.

"I cannot say it here."

"When would you have this plan commence?"

"Immediately after I explain it to you in my room."

Riku raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe that Xemnas's plan, whatever it was, would ever work; there was a reason why Sephiroth was the Head God. And Riku was actually quite happy with his brother being in that position.

"I am sorry, Xemnas, but it will have to wait until I come back."

They walked into a huge room with arched ceilings, murals, and a large pool of water in the middle. When they got to the water, Riku waved a hand over it, and a temple appeared in the reflection. There were monks and other worshipers kneeling around an idol that looked somewhat like Riku. Riku stepped into the water and slowly descended into the temple among his worshipers. They were all silent as they gaped at him. Riku smiled at them and simply walked out of the temple, ignoring all the whispers of witches and other things from the worshipers.

Riku was able to see the palace clearly in the day. He saw many men filing out of the front doors and dispersing themselves into the city. He smiled and ran in the same direction, his feet light.

When he was satisfied that he was thoroughly lost in the city, Riku stood against the wall of a building and relaxed. It felt good to be away from the realm… And things in the human world were very different from up there.

Riku cocked his head to the side as he watched one of the humans acting different from all the rest. This one was just a boy who was taking in all the sights and staring at people. Riku was quickly entertained by how the boy was acting and couldn't keep from watching him.

**In the City…**

Sora had found himself wandering around the city instead of going directly to the gates as he had planned. He couldn't help himself; everything was so new to him. During his little day trip, he had stopped at several outside markets and had just watched the people bustling about. Whenever he saw any of the knights, he made sure to quickly run away in the opposite direction. At the end of the day, he was barely any closer to the gates than when he got out of bed that morning. He was completely unaware of the aquamarine eyes that had been watching him intently for quite some time…

When it was night, Sora was a little frustrated at himself for making no progress. He soon forgot the frustration, however, when he suddenly felt very thirsty. Luckily, he was right next to a tavern.

Inside were groups of various men who were all drinking merrily. Sora felt out of place when he saw that every one of them had someone to be with while he was all alone. He only dismissed the thought as he walked toward the bar.

He smiled shyly at the bartender, who was leaning back in a chair. His hands were on his lap, and his feet were crossed on the bar. His eyes were small and were darting around the place every few seconds, watching all the tables, but they never seemed to acknowledge Sora's presence. As Sora got closer to him, he could smell an unknown stench rolling off the man. He noticed how his clothes were filthy and far too small for him. Sora tried to ignore the man's faults, though, in favor of looking at the assortment of drinks that were behind the man.

When he didn't find anything he liked, he decided that water would suffice and began calling for the bartender. However, the man's eyes were lingering on a group of drunken men who were acting boisterously. Annoyed, Sora knocked on the wooden bar. Again, the man ignored him as though he wasn't there. Sora frowned and began to tap on the bartender's foot. The man suddenly swung his legs down and leaned forward, almost causing Sora to gag.

"What?" the man yelled.

Sora frowned at the terrible service he was getting. Despite this, he replied, "I would like some water, please."

The man's tiny eyes studied him up and down before he laughed, "This is a bar, kid, not some restaurant. If you're not here to drink what I've got, then you're not getting service. So leave before I get mad."

Sora forced a smile on his face, showing his pearly whites, as he reached for the moneybag, which he carried in a pocket within his tattered clothes. With his right hand, he used only his index fingers and thumb to reach in the small hole of the bag, making sure his other fingers were spread out. Slowly, enough to captivate the bartender's attention, he pulled out a single gold coin.

Sora looked up at the man and sighed with false pity, "It's a shame that I got upset first because I would have given you one whole gold piece." He rubbed his fingers against the shiny sides and studied the coin a bit before opening his fingers, letting the coin fall back into the bag with a small "plink".

Sora almost laughed when he saw the bartender's shocked face. He turned and was surprised to see all eyes on him. There was a certain pair of eyes that captured his attention, though. A pair that were a beautiful aquamarine color. Sora snapped out of it, though, and held his head high as he walked out the bar.

Once outside, he took a deep breath of the sweet, fresh air. Then he sighed when he found that he was thirstier than before. He looked up and down the street, looking for restaurant. Suddenly, two pairs of hands took hold of his arms. He jerked around to see the boisterous group from the tavern that the bartender had been staring at. Two of them held his arms while the other two grinned at him. Sora struggled against the men as they pulled him into an empty building.

He was pushed on the floor, which was just dirt. The two that held his arms before got him again as soon as he got back up. The leader, who was wearing a cheeky smile, snatched his hair and pulled it back so he would see Sora's face.

"Well, if it isn't the little brat?!" the leader said, getting very close to Sora's face. "How are you doing?"

Instead of answering, Sora spat in his face. The one next to the leader kicked him in the stomach, causing him to fall forward with a grunt.

"Give us the gold!" the man yelled.

Sora growled and lashed out at the man before him, but was held firmly in place by the two who had his arms. Sora began to struggle out of his captors' grasps.

"Unhand me!" he ordered.

All four of them laughed. The one holding his left arm mocked, "Oooh, he said, 'unhand me'!"

"Who do you think you are, a prince?" the one on his right asked.

Sora was about to answer that but remembered that he was trying to hide that fact. So instead, he kicked the leader in the groin. The man bent over, and both hands flew between his legs, cradling his treasures.

"You bitch! He hissed. He looked at his comrades and growled, "Do what you want with him."

The one next to him pulled out a knife and licked his lips, saying, "That's fine with me; you know this little bitch is kind of cute…"

Sora became wild as he tried to get away from his assailants. The one on his right arm covered his mouth while the other began to tie him with some rope that he hadn't seen. The one with the knife began to shred his clothes, exposing his skin while trying to find his gold. Sora became more frantic when his chest was being caressed and even nicked a few times. One of the assailants kicked him in the back, causing him to arc back and kneel. His feet were then tied, and he was gagged with a random piece of cloth. The leader watched, his hands still at his crotch.

Through the struggle, no one noticed the god who had snuck in and watched them…

Riku was watching from the shadows. He didn't like seeing those fools harming the boy for some reason. When the situation started to get worse, Riku stepped out of the shadows and stood behind the bending leader. He glared at the fool and kicked him in the rear. The idiot fell but quickly stood up.

"What the hell was that for?" he demanded as he turned around. "Who the hell are you?" he yelled, balling his hands into fists and coming toward the god.

Deciding that this fool was not worth wasting his breath over, Riku clapped his hands together and spread them apart. The ground quickly began to part, causing a small earthquake. The group behind the fool stopped hurting the boy, watching their leader fall into the large crevice that was being created. Just before the leader completely fell in, Riku brought his hands back together, making the ground come back together until it trapped him. He began shouting to be freed. Riku only kicked dirt in his face and glared at the rest of the group.

The other men had all backed away from the spiky-haired boy. The boy was staring at Riku in fear and was desperately trying to get out of his binds. His clothes were tattered and barely clung to his body. There was a single long line of red across his chest, as well as a few others around his body. Angered at the sight, Riku turned toward the shivering group of three. They tried to run away, but the silver god twirled a finger and caused the earth to twist under their feet, which made them to sink as if they were in quicksand. Then a second later, the ground hardened and had them trapped to their knees.

With a dangerous gleam in his eyes, the god growled, "The money."

One of them dropped the moneybag almost instantly. Riku raised his right hand and brought his fingers back as if he was beckoning someone to come to him. The ground directly under the bag and the struggling boy was raised, and both were carried to the god. Riku put the money in his pocket and held the boy in his arms.

Shimmering tears were pouring from the ocean-blue eyes. Riku moved to wipe them away, but the boy was thrashing around to get away from him. Riku quickly hugged him and whispered, "Please stop struggling; I've no intention of harming you."

Still, the boy struggled. Keeping as tight of a grip as he possibly could on his bundle with one hand, Riku walked toward the assailant who had hurt the boy and snatched the knife that had been forgotten in the idiot's hand.

Riku cast an angry glare at all of them and warned, "Don't you dare come near this boy again."

He walked out of the building.

When he found himself in little park, he set the boy down underneath a tree and brought the knife before him. The boy yelled through his gag and tried to crawl away, but Riku took one of his arms and held him in place to cut the rope. As soon as Riku was finished with that, the boy rolled away and tore out the gag from his mouth.

"S-stay away from me!" he stammered, attacking the ropes at his legs with his hands.

"Calm down," Riku soothed as he cautiously walked toward him. "I only want to help."

"I'm sure you do!" the brunette interrupted, his hands going wild because he couldn't get his legs free. "You want me to relax and think that you were saving me, so when I fall asleep, you'd kill me and use my body for your witchcraft!"

Sora yanked hard at a loop that he had found and ended up tightening the rope even more. He yelled in pain and tried even harder to free himself. Riku put on his kindest smile and sat next to him. He used the knife to cut some of the rope.

"I do not perform witchcraft," he told the boy. "And if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it a long time ago, along the other four."

The blue eyes were looking away from him and stared at the moonless sky. In anger, he punched the ground.

"Damn," he whispered. "I am stupid…"

"Why do you say that?"

The boy didn't show any signs of hearing him, so Riku was surprised when he answered, "I should have brought my Keyblade with me when I left home… or done something more… I should have found a way to defend myself!"

Riku got through the last of the rope and captured the soft face. The boy tried to pull away, but Riku put down the knife to hold him better. He stared deep into those eyes and whispered, "I don't want to harm you. I only want to help you."

"Why?"

Riku smiled at the question and released him. "Because you are an interesting boy."

The boy wrinkled his nose and rubbed his aching ankles.

"Don't call me _boy_; you are not much older than I am." Riku had to stop himself from laughing out loud because he was several centuries older than the boy. The boy stared into his eyes, instantly mesmerizing the god, as he said, "Just call me Sora."

Riku was delighted that the boy trusted him enough to give him his name. He took off his cloak, put it around the boy's shoulders, and sat next to him.

"Riku," he firmly stated.

They stayed quiet for a while before Sora asked, "Where are you from?"

"Far away," came the simple reply. Riku quickly became bored with where the conversation was going and asked nonchalantly, "Can you tell me anything about the runaway prince?"

Sora froze. He hadn't anticipated that word would get out through the city so fast. He knew that the knights would be around searching the city even more than usual, but it wouldn't have aroused any suspicion of his absence since that was a regular occurrence whenever there were escaped criminals. Sora had estimated that it would take at least a few weeks before the citizens to find out.

"Sora?" Riku called.

Sora decided to feign innocence and gasped, "The prince ran away? When did it happen? Which one was it?"

Riku narrowed his eyes. Sora was being a bit suspicious… Riku leaned closer to the boy and took a good look at him. He smiled when he saw that Sora looked just like the prince who had fought with the princess the night before. That would explain why he had that bag of gold coins. And the way he was trying to back away and avoid Riku's aquamarine eyes only helped prove the god's suspicions.

"But how do you know this when I've heard nothing at all about it?" Sora gulped as he pulled the cloak tighter around him. "Surely the king would have made some sort of announcement!"

Riku was positive that Sora was indeed the prince. He leaned toward the prince and whispered teasingly, "It's a secret!" He then pulled back and reached into his pocket for the moneybag, juggling it with one hand. "I was hoping that you were him because it is hard for me to understand why you have a bag full of gold pieces."

Sora blushed brightly as he reached for the bag, only to have it pulled away.

"Well, I'm not the prince," he lied. "And I found the bag on the ground, earlier today."

"Really? And the owner did not notice that he dropped something so valuable? That's very surprising."

"I did not steal it, so don't get that idea in your head," Sora hissed, feeling angry. "May I have it back now?"

Riku held the bag in front of his own face and seemed as though he was contemplating on the decision. Then he pulled it back and put it in his pocket, simply saying, "No."

Sora jumped on Riku as he tried to get it back. Riku only laughed as he put a hand on Sora's head to keep him away. But then, Sora ducked under the hand and rammed his head into Riku's stomach, causing the god to fall on his back. Sora's hands flew to the pocket that held his prize. Determined to thwart the prince's plan, Riku set his forefingers on the ground, on either side of his body, and curled them back. The ground below his body began to curl from where his head was until it formed a crescent moon with Riku attached to the top and Sora hanging from his vest. The cloak from the boy's shoulders flitted gracefully to the ground.

"Get me down!" Sora yelled in slight panic.

"Get yourself down; we are not high enough for you to get hurt."

With an angry scowl, Sora reached up and punched Riku's cheek before letting go of the clothes. Riku, being shocked by that lucky hit, ended up losing his concentration and fell on Sora, causing the boy to cry out in pain. Sora pushed the god off him and curled up on his side. Riku, afraid that he had seriously injured him, turned the boy so that he could search for any wounds.

"Damn…" Sora ground out as he looked down at himself. The long gash was bleeding a bit. He took in a deep breath of air as he reached for a bit a hanging piece of his clothes and used it to wipe off the blood. Riku watched and smiled.

"Well, it seems like you are fine," he said. Then he laughed, "You are lucky that I am not my brother, Sora, otherwise you would have been dead before you hit the ground for that punch!"

"Oh well, you are not, so I get to live a little longer," Sora smiled. "And look at what I was able to retrieve…" He brought the moneybag out of his cloak pocket and dangled it in front of his face.

As he moved the ground back to the way it was, Riku laughed, "Fine, you are not the prince. You are just a petty thief."

"I am no thief!"

Getting frustrated, Sora stood to leave. Riku looked at him from the corner of his eye. Sora took a look back, and Riku gasped. There was the feeling that Sora was familiar to him. And it wasn't from seeing his twin the night before. There was something about this boy… Riku was sure that he had never met before. What was so special about him?

Riku sighed from his musings as he watched Sora leaving. "Where are you going in your injured state?" he asked, feeling annoyed over his thoughts.

"I am going to the gates, for I am going to leave the kingdom tonight."

"Do you really think you are going to make it there at this time of night, Sora?"

Sora thought about it and chuckled.

"Probably not. After an hour, I would probably fall asleep somewhere in the middle of the street."

"Exactly," Riku replied. "Now come rest by my side. I will watch over you and wake you up in the morning."

Sora was in deep thought. He didn't want to trust Riku so easily. After all, he was only a stranger. But then again, he did save him…

Sora sighed and nodded. He walked toward the tree behind him and sat down. He carefully watched Riku as the god crawled toward him but soon found himself getting very tired. Then Riku put his arm around him, and he couldn't help but scoot closer to him to have some warmth in his sleep. Within seconds, his eyelids shut, and he was softly snoring.

Riku blinked in surprise at the noises that were coming from the boy's mouth. He had never heard anything like them. But somehow, they made him smile.

He reached for the cloak that had floated close to where they were. He covered Sora's body over it, and he smiled softly at how sweet the prince looked. He leaned back and let the prince rest on his chest as he watched him snore in peace.

**A/N: I still don't think I've captured Sora and Riku's personalities. I think Axel was pretty soft, too. Guess that means I'll have to play the games again. As for the part from where Riku comes down to the mortal world to before Sora gets into the bar, well, that's still a rough draft since I did it just tonight… Thing is, I really wanted to update, and… yeah. If it changes, I'll let you all know.**

**Oh, and I almost forgot, I'd like to thank one of my best friends, whom I affectionately call Lovey-Dovey, for helping me out with this. Love, I swear, I don't know what I'd do without you!**

**The next chapter is coming soon, I promise; it's about halfway done! The reason that I'm a slow updater is because of all the correcting I do for myself… and that's just before my Lovey looks at it… I'm sorry, everyone!!! Just… try looking for this in a month.**

**Please review! Seriously, this is the first story of I've ever done with gods and such, so if you've got any tips for me, please tell!**

**Until next time, ja ne, minna-san!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow… Sorry this all took so long, people. Lots of things happened, like me ripping this story up into three pieces and stuff… And then some trouble with my Lovey-Dovey… But now I've got a new beta! Also, this fic was posted on another site last week, and I totally forgot to update here, so… yeah…**

**Oh, and there has been a change in rating, here. I'm still debating on some things, but for now, this will be "M" because of something I have going on in Roxas's room in this chapter.**

**Okay, as a tiny little note to everyone, instead of saying, "Thank God", people in this fic will be saying, "Thank Sephiroth", and stuff like that…**

**This fic has been betaed by Lynn Stardragon, everyone! And I'm soooooooo thankful of what she's done!**

**Well, enough rambling!**

**Chapter 3**

**In the City…**

Dawn came quietly as the sun slowly began to rise, lighting the world with its magnificent rays. Unfortunately, it also disturbed Riku from his peaceful slumber. The god was reluctant to wake, but some odd sounds only further roused him. Opening a single aquamarine eye, he smiled at the tuft of brown hair tickling his chin. He gently stroked the soft spikes for a few seconds before looking down at the dirt-covered body.

"Sora, time to wake up," he whispered softly.

There was a small moan from the boy, and a thin arm circled around Riku's waist. His body shifted, and a little moan escaped his mouth. The god chuckled at him and almost reluctantly began to disentangle it from him. Sora raised his arms and leaned back to get the kinks out of his back. He blinked at the god and smiled.

"I feel filthy," he grinned.

"As do I," Riku replied.

A chilly wind blew over, causing the boy to shiver. Sora rubbed his arms up and down to warm himself but then quickly stopped. He pressed his hands along the length of his arms before pulling the cloak away from his body and looking down. Riku cocked his head curiously as he witnessed this. Sora looked up at him, shocked.

"My cuts—they are gone!" he cried. "How?"

Riku pushed away the ripped bits of clothing and inspected the skin before him. Sure enough, all cuts and nicks were gone. Even the big gash that had been across his chest was gone. There was no evidence of Sora ever being hurt. Not even a scar.

"Maybe you are a fast healer," Riku mused.

"Not that fast, though," the boy mumbled then blushed. He slowly looked up at Riku and smiled. "Thank you for doing that."

"I did not do anything."

"Of course you did! You healed me."

"No, I did not," Riku insisted, crossing his arms and cocking his head to the side.

Sora's brows knotted together in confusion, but he shook his head, laughing, "You do not need to joke about something like that."

"What is there to joke about? I have done nothing to your body."

An awkward silence passed between the two. Sora looked down at himself and wondered if it had all been a dream. But it couldn't be; Riku was still there.

"Yes, well, it's almost time for us to part," Riku replied, breaking the silence. "You may keep the cloak." He reached for the knife that had been lying next to them through the night and handed it to Sora. "Here. Now you don't have to complain the next time you find yourself in trouble."

Sora scoffed and replied, "Hey, last time, I was only caught by surprise. You do not have to worry about me."

"Are you absolutely positive?"

Sora chuckled a bit as he inspected the blade. As he turned the knife at an angle, the sun glinted off the metal, causing Riku to blink. In the time that the god closed his eyes, Sora leapt forth, pushing the god against the tree and pressing the full weight of his body against his. In seconds, the knife was brought to the god's porcelain throat. Riku chuckled at the predicament he found himself in.

"All right, you have proven your point."

"That's right!" Sora laughed as he pulled the knife away. "I've always been better with using weapons than hand-to-hand combat."

Riku smiled and leaned against the tree as he watched Sora put the blade away. It seemed that the boy wasn't one to be underestimate so easily…

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard Sora ask, "So where are you headed?"

"The palace," came his simple reply.

"Why? I don't think you will be able to get inside; everyone would be concentrating on trying to find me."

"So you finally admit to being the prince?" Riku teased.

Sora opened his mouth a bit, then closed it. He opened it again but still couldn't respond. Riku laughed, then shrugged at him. Sora couldn't help but laugh at the response.

"Riku, you are a very strange person."

"You have no idea, your majesty…" Riku drifted off. He then bowed his head to the prince and said, "Well, I'd best be going."

Sora watched him head toward the castle before going in the opposite direction.

Back at the Castle…

Roxas groaned as the sun unpleasantly hit his face. He absolutely did not want to get up only to have a wet shoulder… All Kairi did the day before was cry on him, so he wasn't looking forward to a repeat of that. He wasn't looking forward to a day without his redhead, either.

The door behind him opened softly. Roxas, figuring it was only a servant trying to wake him, threw his sheets over his head and groaned, "I am up. You may go."

He heard the door close and sighed. He was about to fall back to sleep until he felt another person sitting in the mattress. Before he could turn around and yell at this stranger, an arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him to the warm body of the stranger. He sighed when he felt how familiar the other's torso was, and he tried to snuggle closer to him when he felt soft, languid kisses being pressed upon his neck.

"Kairi wants to see you…" came Axel's smooth voice as one of his hands began to reach under the blanket and wander south. Roxas grunted in annoyance for the statement but then moaned when that hand grasped his cock. Meanwhile, Axel continued, "You really should give her a chance, you know? You should forget whatever happened between you as kids. Let bygones be bygones." Before the blonde could argue, Axel silenced him by rubbing his thumb over the slick head in his grasp. "She's not—" he accented the word with one long stroke "—that bad if—" he did it again "—you get to know her. This little punishment—" Axel made sure to breathe the last word hotly against Roxas's ear as he began a slow, steady rhythm for pumping the little blonde "—will give you a chance to finally bond."

Axel promptly let go of Roxas's cock and sat up. Panicked that that was all he would get for pleasure, Roxas quickly scrambled to sit up. He pouted when he saw Axel leaving with his tongue flicking out at his fingers.

"Are you going to leave me like this, Axel?" he squeaked. "Finish what you started!"

Axel put his hand under his chin and pretended to think for a few seconds before looking back at the blonde with a wicked gleam in his eye and answering, "No, I don't think I will. I got what I wanted and did what I was supposed to do."

"Axel, you are a bastard!"

The redhead let out a chuckle. He walked back to Roxas and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. He leaned toward the blonde's ear and whispered, "Fine, then. If I see that you've made progress in getting along with Kairi, then—"

"I get your ass," Roxas interrupted almost furiously. "You get the satisfaction of seeing me making peace with her, and I get the satisfaction of being responsible for making you unable to walk straight for at least a week."

Axel shivered in anticipation. He kissed Roxas again, whispering, "I'll be looking forward to it."

He then stood and quickly walked out the room, hips swaying enticingly. Roxas's eyes remained locked on the redhead's backside until the door closed. He was about to move so he could get ready for the day when he suddenly remembered a certain problem he still had. Cursing the redhead under his breath, he set about relieving himself.

Elsewhere in the Castle…

Riku was grinning at how easy it was to get in the palace. Of course, he had made himself invisible to get past the guards, but he had hoped for… well, he didn't know what he had hoped for. After what had happened with Sora, he had expected more of a challenge from the palace's security…

"Such a shame," he whispered as he found himself in a throne room.

The room itself was a minor sight to behold, he supposed. Well it was probably grand for mortals—not that he'd ever seen any other mortal throne rooms to compare with this one. So he guessed that they might call it "big"…

The floor was of a whitish smoothed marble-like stone with gray veining, undulating off in erratic directions. It reminded him of the many-rooted undergrowth plants in Marluxia's garden back home.

Turning his attention to the walls, he was most pleased to see that someone was sensible enough to build them out of stone. And not any piddling lightweight bricks, either. These were miniature boulders, roughly hewn into the ragged semblance of blocks. They were stale-colored, but from Riku's innate understanding of his element, he could tell they were in fact granite. They were even held in place by a sturdy composite mortar, some part mud, clay, granite flecks, a little sand, and things he didn't know of, which meant they were not of the soil and thus not important for anything more than coloring.

The ceiling stretched high above his head in an elegant vaulting dome. This was, again, marble in nature, the same kind as the floor although it was perhaps whiter, as humans possessed not the ability to walk up walls, let alone on ceilings. But as long as the surface in question was made of something from the minerals of the land, Riku could walk on it with no hindrances. Hmm, maybe he should try that later just for fun—without being invisible—seeing as this palace presented no other challenges so far.

He frowned. Perhaps Sora was the only worthwhile thing to come out of this place.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the slight movement of something he'd previously overlooked. Turning his full attention to it, he realized that it had escaped his sight before, as it was not mineral based, and thus of no great purpose to him. It was a long hanging red banner that bore the kingdom's seal and the royal family's crest emblazoned in gold embroidery. There were several of these that hung over some areas of the walls. They apparently switched off with marble support pillars.

"Probably just for show . . . or color," Riku mused aloud, scanning for anything else of interest.

He couldn't help but follow the path made by the red banners, and as he took in more of the foreground, he saw that there was a matching strip of red carpet, which seemed to serve as some kind of path. Hmmm, so maybe it was all meant to lead the viewer's eyes to the front of the room?

It must have, for there stood the only furniture that the godling had witnessed throughout the room. Alone, elevated by a raised landing with a short flight of steps, were not one or two, but four elaborate wooden thrones. The earth deity smiled, eyes aglow with mischievous glee as he scampered over to give the seats further inspection.

Stopping short of the landing, the godling started his scrutiny of the wooden fixtures. The end two were small in size--obviously the princes sat in them. The middle two, being full-sized, would then have been for the King and Queen, the larger of the two being on his left most likely for the former. The chairs were uniform in nature, made of some fragrant wood that smelled faintly of the Head God's floral blankets back home. Rosewood perhaps? Or maybe they were regularly treated with aromatic oils?

The legs of the thrones were carved to look like thorny vines that sprouted out of the ground and twined upward until they opened into a blossoming Rosebud seat. The arms were made to look like extended leaves coming off the support vines, and the backs were over-exaggerated petals stemming from the blooming seat. Still, the wood was fine-grained in nature, dark in color, and heavily padded on the arms, back, and seat. Here, too, was the rose motif, as they were stitched all over the surface of the padding.

"So," He began to point at the middle chairs. "Daddy, Mommy…" His finger pointed at the chair next to the father's and stopped. Grrr, was Sora the older or the younger brother? Knowing the attention the King was paying him for running off, he had to be the older. That meant he sat by his father. "Okie, Sora and . . . " His finger went to the last seat, but then his brow furrowed as he tried to remember the name of the brother. Finally, he came up with, "…The other Sora!" With that, he beamed as he moved over to the far left, which became the far right as he turned around.

Riku smiled when he sat in the small chair next to the large chair; by all of the spirited energy he felt, he could sense that it was definitely the chair that Sora used during his princely days. It was nice and cushiony. Riku imagined that Sora would have tried bouncing on the seat when no one was looking… But Riku could also tell that there had been pressure weighing on the boy throughout his life. There was still that spunkiness that he had seen, though, so he felt content.

Riku moved over to the large chair and wrinkled his nose. All he could sense was that it belonged to someone who was just a hard-ass. Of course, this hard-ass still cared for others and took a lot of pride in himself. And took pride in teaching his sons to be like him. It was still sort of unpleasant.

Shaking his head, Riku turned to the medium-sized chair. The energy signature around it was very faint. Even so, Riku could still sense all the feelings within it. It was full of love and caring and a sort of joy in life that he only rarely ever saw or felt. Riku found that he enjoyed the warmth found in this chair and was almost reluctant to turn to the last one.

This last one seemed to be a mix of all three chairs. There was definitely pressure on this one, but it was a different kind from Sora's. Stress was a bit clear, as well as some fierce pride and determination. But the love that he saw from the chair before was present, and he could sense a touch of mischief. Riku smiled at this seat.

He inspected the chairs a bit more before he grew bored with the room, as it didn't provide much else for entertainment, and walked out of the throne room. He wandered aimlessly along until he heard a familiar voice speaking behind a door. He went through it and found the boy he recognized as Sora's twin there. The boy was standing in front of a painting of the runaway prince.

Riku walked until he was next to the boy and studied the painting with him. He found that he didn't like it; Sora's pose and overall attitude seemed entirely different from the boy he had left earlier. Sora stood, what Riku thought to be, painfully erect, brandishing the most insipid and un-genuine smile he'd ever seen. Had he not been staring at this painting, the Earth God would have been hard pressed to even believe that the child was capable of such a look. And the princely debauchery—er, make that 'finery' that he was clothed in did nothing to compliment either his energetic nature, or trim physique.

The only reasoning he could see for this travesty not being ripped from the wall, or swallowed by it—which was tempting him fiercely in its own right—was that the viewer's attention would not be primarily on the posture or clothes. No, even in this unnatural stance, the prince's eyes were still captivating. But what he suspected the mortals would gawk at was the silvery shining Keyblade held aloft in Sora's right hand. Actually it was only semi-aloft, his left arm was rigidly against his side, the right hand resting over his heart, not clasping but pressing flat and holding firm the grip and guard of the blade to his breast.

Looking at the face, Riku noticed that the eyes did not have that certain sparkle that he remembered seeing on the boy; they seemed to be trying to look stern, proud…not lively. Riku knew that if he'd known Sora better, he could find even more flaws to the painting. He found it surprising that he could tell this much about the boy from spending just one night and the first few minutes of a morning in his company.

The god was interrupted from his musings when he heard Sora's brother give a sigh. It was then that Riku really looked at the boy. He looked just like Sora, save for the hair. His presence was entirely different, though. He seemed very responsible. Smart, too. Maybe smarter than Sora. This boy was definitely the owner of that last chair.

The boy let out another sigh.

"Despite what logic is telling me, Sora," the boy mused, "I actually believe that you are now better off out there on your own. You are free, just as you should be. Make sure you take care of yourself…"

A slight creaking sound interrupted the moment, and footsteps soon followed. The redheaded princess from the night before last stood between Roxas and Riku. The prince turned to her and bowed.

"Good morning, Princess Kairi."

"Good morning, Roxas."

The two stayed silent. Riku watched the two quietly as he sat on the ground and crossed his legs; being invisible could get boring, but when it came to eavesdropping, it was the best! He looked intently at the girl and was fairly perplexed. She seemed to be one who was always dreaming. But right now, she was extremely worried, in a way that could get her extremely depressed. She also seemed somewhat fragile. Riku couldn't tell what he thought of her.

A few seconds passed before the princess spoke, "He will be back, soon."

Roxas raised a brow. "How are you able to tell, Milady?"

"A strong feeling I have… I know it in my heart…"

"If you are going on the fantasy in which he loves you, you are wrong…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, do not be stupid, Kairi. You know he does not wish to come back; he even told you, himself, that he does not want to marry you. When will you get it through your thick head?"

Riku raised his eyes at the blonde. He didn't quite expect that sort of response from Sora's brother. He felt that something was about to happen between the two, so he stood to be ready for the coming commotion.

The princess remained silent. Small tears filled her eyes, and her shoulders shook. She turned to try to hide them. Riku circled the girl until he could see her face. She was gently biting her lip.

"I don't care about the marriage at this point," she whispered. "I'm more worried about Sora. He is one of my dearest friends, and I don't like to think that something terrible has happened to him. I just don't know what to do…"

"Yes, well, crying about it won't get you anywhere."

"It's better than what you're doing: nothing! Nothing except letting him go!"

"It's something he needs to do!"

Riku looked over at Roxas to see him red-faced and panting. This was obviously an old, sore issue that the brothers had talked to death long before that fated night. Riku could feel the anger and distress rolling off the blonde in waves. There was a fierce loyalty behind those sky-blue eyes, and a rage that one so close to his brother refuse to see reason.

Glancing back at the princess, she too was in an emotional state. But the emotions there were dark and brooding. Yes, she was worried about her friend, but there was a sickly certain darkness that seemed to be there as well, in its beginning stages. Riku mused that it would be one that Xemnas would be interested in looking into, given the chance. But really, Kairi truly believed she had a chance with the older prince and perhaps thought that if he came home he would "come to his senses" and love her like he was supposed to. There was an echoing deviousness to her aura, as if she wasn't above manipulating Sora's heart or emotions to get what she wanted, though she would probably be very subtle about it, so subtle that perhaps even she was unaware of what she was doing. Once this twin returned she would do everything in her power to make him "see reason" and marry her, regardless of what the other's heart wanted.

Silence reigned. Riku decided to stay with the two.

In the City…

Sora was close to the gates. With every step he took, his feet felt lighter. He could see the gatekeeper ahead, but he took his time getting to the man; the next few seconds he had left to get to the gate were going to be the last he would spend in his city, after all.

"There he is!" a voice yelled. "And can you see it? He has my knife! The one I described to you!"

Hearing that, Sora stopped to see who it was who had apparently stolen a knife. It didn't take long, though; he was suddenly grabbed from behind and remembered that the dagger he had was stolen.

A boy about Sora's age with shimmering silver-blue hair stood before him. Just by seeing this boy, Sora knew whom it was who was holding him.

"Hello, Zexion and Lexaeus," he greeted.

"See?!" yelled the accusing voice. Sora looked off to the side to see one of his assaulters from the night before. The man looked pissed as he continued to yell, "If he knows your names, then he must be a witch!"

"You fool, it is not valid proof of witchcraft; we are well-known throughout the kingdom," hissed Zexion.

The man blushed. Then he shook his head, snatched the knife from Sora's side, and searched the boy's pockets until he produced the moneybag.

"Just as I said!" he snarled. "He has my knife and the bag of gold. He also had a friend with him who attacked us! A boy with eyes of the sea and hair of the moon!"

Lexaeus, the one holding on Sora, began to chuckle deeply. "That's impossible; only gods have silver hair."

"But we saw him! And he's definitely a witch; he was able to manipulate the earth! He buried us to our knees!"

Sora felt panic rising within him. "That's not true!" he cried. "I never had anyone with me last night! And the money… I found it on the ground! Same with the knife!"

"You lying brat!" the fool yelled.

Zexion gave Lexaeus a look that clearly stated that he thought the man was crazy. He signaled for his larger friend to let the boy go. Sora let out a small sigh of relief and quickly tried to get away. However, he stopped when a strong hand clapped on his shoulder. He froze as Zexion leaned into his body.

"Your money, boy," he said, looking very bored.

He set the moneybag into Sora's hand and bowed his head. He suddenly pulled back with a start, a strange look on his face. He leaned toward Sora again and tipped back with wide eyes.

"He has the scent of the prince about him!" he quietly gasped to Lexaeus. He looked accusingly at Sora. "What have you done to his highness?"

Sora closed his eyes and looked down. He considered lying, but he knew that Lexaeus would catch him in the act. He sighed. He was so close. So close!

"I am Sora," he mumbled, turning his head in shame.

"Do not even try to pull that one on me, boy," Zexion snapped. "It is well known that my family was blessed with a godly union generations back." He flicked back a lock of his silver-tinted blue hair. "Even now, the decedents of that pair bear heavenly gifts, and mine is a sense of smell that no other mortal has. Couple that with my instincts and training as a hunter, and there is not a scent in the kingdom that I do not know. Your scent is entirely different from our prince's, but I am able to tell that you have spent quite some time with him very recently. Now tell us, where is Prince Sora? What did you do to him after he flew from the castle?! Are you the reason we cannot find him?!" Zexion's eyes were hard and dangerous, not to mention that his raised voice was steadily drawing the attention of every passerby.

Sora's eyes were wide with panic and confusion. He struggled when Lexaeus grabbed him again. His assaulter from the night before began to silently cheer at Sora's new predicament. Sora almost felt tears come to his eyes as he looked at Zexion.

"Please tell me you are only joking, Zexion! We've known each other our whole lives. My nickname for you is Sexy Zexy!" He turned his head back to the silent knight and whispered, "Lex, I've kept some very big secrets for you! Like your secret crush on Zexy!"

Lexaeus brightly blushed as Zexion suddenly slapped Sora. Sora's head jerked to the side, but then he slowly brought it back to face the silvery-haired boy, who had moved so that they were nose to nose of each other.

"Now I'm convinced you are a witch and have taken our beloved prince hostage! Where is he?"

"Zexion, I am not a wi—" Sora couldn't finish the sentence as Lexaeus had quickly head butted him. His body sagged as he was collected into the silent knight's arms. Darkness came shortly after.

Back in the Castle…

Riku had spent his day being bored as he followed Roxas around… Roxas had been following Kairi around all day for some punishment or other, so nothing really happened. Riku barely paid attention to Kairi, though; she was always staring sadly out windows unless she was needed for something. Riku found himself inspecting all the rooms the two entered.

To Riku's disappointment, the palace didn't have much for entertainment.

At sunset, he finally grew tired of the prince and princess, so he decided to search for the king. But just as he was leaving them, the king burst into the room, seeming to be mad about something. Roxas and Kairi bowed before the now pacing man.

"Your majesty, what's wrong?" Kairi asked.

The king stopped long enough to stare at her, then sighed and rubbed at his temples.

"I have been told that we have a witch in the dungeon," he said slowly. "We have reason to believe that he and an accomplice have Sora."

Kairi gasped. Riku looked over at Roxas to see those blue eyes growing wide. The godling looked back when the king sighed again.

"However, despite the powers of our best clerics, this witch isn't responding to our interrogation. Only once did he try to escape, yelling that he was Sora. Now he's given up on speaking."

Riku perked up a bit. A witch that said he was Sora? Maybe there was more entertainment in the palace than he thought…

"So what will you do with the witch?" Kairi asked innocently.

"Burn him in the temple. He is an abomination, a shame to our great Riku. He's useless to us, anyway, if he is not going to speak."

"And what of the accomplice?" the princess asked.

"Hopefully, he will come to us when he hears of this one being burned." The king glared at his son a bit before looking at the princess. "Well, I only came to let you know that we have a lead."

He bowed his head and promptly left. Kairi turned to Roxas.

"You must be feeling guilty," she said in a quiet voice. There was a smugness there, a smugness that Riku found vaguely off-putting.

Roxas, who had been quiet during the king's appearance, snapped, "How would you know how I feel?"

Kairi frowned at the outburst. Roxas rolled his eyes and left the room. Riku followed closely behind, intrigued by the boy.

The prince ran through the palace, deep to the bottom. He stopped in front of the door to the dungeon, which was being watched by several guards.

Roxas stood tall before them and said in a commanding voice, "I need to see the witch."

The guards looked amongst one another before one stepped forth.

"I'm sorry, my prince, but we cannot permit you to pass, for fear that this witch may cast a spell on you."

"If he has been properly bound, there won't be any problems. I'll make sure he tells us where my brother is."

"My prince, we cannot take any risks," the guard argued.

Roxas continued to argue with the guards. Riku chuckled a bit at poor Roxas's predicament before going through the door.

It was damp and dirty in there. Riku was glad that he wasn't in a solid form. It was very quiet, as well, even though the cells were packed with many criminals. Riku found himself walking up to the bars to inspect them. Most were raggedy and scarred. They all looked like they were a rowdy bunch, but something seemed to be scaring them all into hiding in the furthest corners of their cells.

Riku looked on in each cell until he reached one that didn't seem to have as many men. He looked inside and saw a familiar brown head.

"Sora?" he breathed, shocked by what he saw.

Sora was lying on the ground, facing the wall of his cell, with his arms and legs tied behind him. He looked battered and bruised all over, and Riku found himself wondering if there were any broken bones.

He went through the bars and checked the boy. Sora was sleeping, or so it seemed since he was blindfolded. Riku began to feel the boy. He winced at all the scratches and bruises that he found. Thankfully, no broken bones were to be felt.

He pulled the small body against his and took off the bindings. An audible moan came from the boy, and Riku slowly smiled. He rocked back and forth, gently stroking the soft brown hair.

Sora almost panicked when he felt those hands over him. He wanted to scream and try to fight, but he knew that he didn't have a chance. He decided to stay quiet—maybe they wouldn't punish him if he cooperated for a bit?

He almost stiffened when he felt the ropes and blindfold being untied and sighed from the relief it brought. He relaxed into the soft caressing that soon followed. He then felt someone pull his gag off.

The first words that came to his mouth were, "Riku, is that you?" He had no clue why the name of his midnight savior had come to his mind. Maybe because it seemed as much a miracle then as now with this stranger...

"Yes, it is," came that familiar voice that he was now grateful to hear.

Sora's eyes fluttered open, and he slightly turned his head to the side to see the silver-headed god. He smiled at the aquamarine eyes that met his. They were full of such concern… and a deep gravity, as one caring for a departing love, a loved one he just might have feared to never see again. For some reason, he found himself wanting to make them shine with happiness.

Riku slightly smiled at his friend. He pulled his shivering body to his own and felt the boy give a relaxed sigh. Sora let out a groan, as the movement was irritating his wounds. Riku backed off, giving him an apologetic smile. Sora weakly smiled back and let Riku continue to rock him.

"Riku, what are you doing here?" the boy asked after a few seconds of comfort.

"I came to see the supposed witch," Riku answered quietly.

"Oh, really? I thought you came to break someone out," Sora chuckled.

"I might." His eyes twinkled. "It depends on the severity of your crime."

Sora pulled away from him in surprise. Why would Riku ever help him from a place like this? Better yet, how would he be able to get out? True, he'd proven that he was a fair match when unarmed, but what could the boy do against metal bars? And how had he gotten in anyway? The knights didn't let just any commoner or peasant wander in from off the streets. Too many assassinations start that way. Sora wondered if maybe Riku did have a valuable trick or two up his sleeves that would allow them to flee this place. Thinking on it, he grinned. Maybe Riku could help get him out of the kingdom.

But, was it really okay for him to leave?

Shaking off the surprise, Sora explained what had happened. Riku looked at him when he finished and quietly whispered as he stroked the soft head, "I'm going to get you out of here."

Sora looked up at him and sighed, "No, don't do it. It's too risky…"

"But I know, for certain, that your god wouldn't want you to be punished for something you didn't do, Sora!"

Sora smiled sweetly at Riku's insistence. He carefully pushed back a strand of silver hair from the porcelain face and cupped the soft cheek. He brought Riku's face toward his and brushed his lips against his, shocking Riku.

The god had never had this action done to him before. It was very new to him. He enjoyed it, though—so much so that he forced his lips even harder against Sora's. Sora gasped at this, but it soon became a moan. Riku suddenly found himself plundering the boy's mouth with his tongue, bringing out more delightful sounds from him. The sounds excited him, and Riku felt like he needed to press himself more firmly against the boy. It was interesting how little jolts of energy seemed to ripple outward from where their lips met, running through the length of his body.

He wanted to wrap his arms around Sora and did so without a second thought, urged on by the encouraging sigh he received. Then he found that the brunet's hand had slid over his shoulders, and stray fingers were curling into his starlit hair. The action—what had it been called by his brother, a kiss? —with their mouths grew more involved and wet as he tried to shift so he could taste more of the mortal below him.

Below him? Ooooh, he'd managed to pin his companion to the floor. He had been working purely on instinct and on how he remembered his brother doing it with his lovers. Those had been some interesting sessions he'd secretly spied on, to say the least.

The sound of metal rapping against metal brought the two back to reality. Riku panicked and became invisible, and quick as a flash, he bound and gagged Sora as best he could without hurting the boy. Luckily, he did it just before the light of a lantern shined upon them. One of the guards from outside was there, violently shaking the lantern in his hand.

"What are you doing in there?" called the guard in a frightened voice.

Sora let out what he hoped to be a sleepy moan. This caused the knight to slightly jump. Finally, the knight began to walk away briskly.

Riku let out a sigh of relief when the knight was gone. He set about untying the prince again. Sora blinked at him curiously.

"He didn't see you?" he asked.

"No. Thank Sephiroth," Riku answered.

Sora nodded and blushed, remembering their kiss. His fingers gently reached up to touch his lips. Suddenly, he gasped as he remembered something else. He slapped Riku's leg. Then he sat up and smacked the boy upside his head.

"You fool!" he hissed. "That was my first kiss!"

"It was my first one, as well," the god responded with a shrug. "What's so wrong about it?"

"I was saving mine for my soul mate!"

"'Soul mate'?" Riku had an adorably confused expression on his face.

Sora found himself about to yell but then caught himself. Instead, he sighed, "Forget it. At least I had the chance to experience one before… you know…"

Riku frowned as they were getting back to their dilemma. He quickly took the boy's arm and started to pull him through the bars. Sora was shocked to see the god's body moving through solid metal and began to panic when his arm was going through, as well. He wrenched his arm free, wincing at the pain the action brought.

"Stop, Riku, it's all right," he whimpered. "This will be my punishment for trying to defy Riku… For not wanting to marry Kairi."

"The punishment does not fit the crime! And why would I—uh, I mean he—why would he ever punish someone who wanted to follow his own heart? Does Riku not value freedom above all things? Does the Earth God not want to explore the mysteries of his domain? There are so many wondrous things in this world, be they made by man or god. So why should I sit forever in one spot!? I've found that I rather love this damned world! And since when have The Gods cared for the matching of mortals? You—we—could all marry pigs as far as they're concerned, as long as you're—we're— all happy and healthy...And praying, Riku likes a good praying--er prayer."

Sora smiled and cupped Riku's face.

"You are sweet, Riku, very sweet. But this is the reality of the situation. I want you to go back to wherever you come from and forget about me. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Sora—"

"I am not asking you to do it, Riku. Now, go."

Sora then moved to the back of his cell and laid down, facing the wall. Riku glared at him.

"Fine, if you want to die, then I won't stop you! And I certainly won't help you escape this kingdom, which you tried so hard to leave from!"

With a huff, he quickly left the dungeon, not even bothering to bind him again.

In the morning in Roxas' room…

Roxas awoke when someone sat in his bed again. He turned away from the weight and grumbled, "Not this time, Axel. I'm not in the mood."

"I'm not Axel…"

Roxas' eyes opened wide, and he jumped out of bed in shock.

"What the hell are you doing here, Kairi?" he demanded.

"Calm down, Roxas, I only wanted to talk to you."

Roxas looked out his window. The kingdom was still dark. He looked back at the redhead as though she was crazy. She seemed determined.

Sighing, the prince sat back in bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Kairi gave him a thankful smile before asking, "How is the burning performed?"

It took Roxas a few seconds to remember about the witch in the dungeon. He looked at Kairi with one sleepy eye and answered, "I have no clue. We haven't had any witch problems in the kingdom since I was a baby, and I've never cared all that much to ask."

"Really?" She tilted her head to the side. "You've never been even a little bit curious about it?"

"No. The only things I really know are that witches don't attack people wielding fire (or so I'm told), and that their magic does not work if you keep a safe distance from them."

Kairi had a thoughtful look on her face. "Really?" she mused. "I'd like to see it."

"You probably will," Roxas yawned, turning in the bed. "Hell, they'll probably have you hold the torch since you're betrothed to be our next queen. I'm not going, though."

"Why not? It should be interesting!"

"Why should I go? He's of no use to me now, if he's going to die, and my father will be there, as well. Besides…" The blonde's eyes flicked down to look at his sheets as he whispered, "Axel's not here…"

He heard Kairi giving a light chuckle, "That's right. He's going to be out on the streets searching for…" Her voice trailed off. Roxas looked back at her and gave her an irritated look. Kairi shook her head and looked at Roxas. "You shouldn't be so childish on the matter."

Roxas laid his head on his pillow and pouted. "I'm not being childish; I'm sulking."

Kairi began to giggle at him as she got off the bed and left the room. Roxas grumbled in his pillow, glad that she was gone.

In the dungeon…

"Aah!" Sora cried as he felt ice-cold water being poured over his body.

He didn't understand what was going on as many people crowded around him then tied and gagged him, causing him to grunt in pain. He shook his head when he faced the lot of them. Some of them were conversing amongst each other.

"I can't wait until he's dead," someone whispered.

"The sooner, the better," another hissed.

"Someone cover his eyes before he uses them against us!"

And once again, Sora found himself blind to the world. It didn't make much of a difference, though, for he was then led out of the dungeon.

With every footstep he made, Sora was aware of the pounding of his heart. He began to wish that he had allowed Riku to take him away. He didn't know what to expect, though. He did know how the faces he would see would be like. They would be full of anger, fear, and anxiety.

He felt ashamed for leaving his home. Silently, he prayed to his god that he would be forgiven.

Soon, he was stopped. He heard the hushed voices of various people. The blindfold came off, and his head was forced down.

"Keep your head like that, you heathen," one of the guards whispered in his ear.

He did as he was told, his still-wet hair creating a curtain over his face. Looking at the ground, he knew he was at the temple. Only minutes away from death. Two knights held each of his arms and walked forward. They stopped in front of a tall, wooden pillar, where he was quickly tied up to. Twigs and hay were thrown at his feet.

He heard someone step forth, and he stole a glance up to see that it was one of the temple's monks, who was carrying a torch.

"Presenting Princess Kairi of the Light Kingdom!" the man announced. He looked up again and saw Kairi slowly making her way from a crowd of monks and knights, who were armed with their bows and arrows. The monk in front gave her the torch and then continued, "On behalf of the king and our own fair kingdom, the princess shall light the fire that will burn this witch, in honor of the Great Riku!"

Cheers could be heard throughout the temple, but they seemed all too distant to Sora. He only listened to Kairi's steadily approaching footsteps. When he was sure that she was only a short distance away, he raised his head to look upon the face of his friend. He captured the girl's eyes with his own, smiling through the gag and making sure to crinkle the edges of his eyes in a way that Kairi loved.

Kairi let out a shrill scream and dropped the torch in her hand. The fire began to quickly burn the hay. The princess looked down and tried to stomp it out. When that became useless, she went straight for Sora and his ropes.

Fearing that Sora had cast some sort of spell, the monks in the crowd sprang forth and pulled Kairi back. Several others ran up as near to Sora as they could safely get and used a wooden beam to hit him over the head.

"What are you doing, you fools?" Kairi yelled. "It is Sora!"

"The princess has been bewitched!" someone howled.

Quickly, the monks began to chant, in hopes of breaking whatever hold this infernal wretch had on the fair maiden. They called out to their god, the very god they wished to appease by removing the foul creature from the earth before it could further blight the land.

Still others were at work trying to beat Sora senseless, though the fire made that difficult for them to accomplish. They reasoned to themselves that it was good for the witch to feel such agony in his final minutes. One among them called for the others to stop when the danger outweighed the gain, and they instead offered up pleas to Riku that the vile thing might burn quickly with no further incident.

As said before, Riku liked a good praying, and what these people were doing was enough to turn even the most apathetic god's head.

Riku glared down at the scene from the ceiling. He had been watching the whole affair since dawn. He had originally gone there to grouse over Sora, but when the preparations for the burning were being made, he decided to look. And now, seeing what they were doing to the one who invaded his thoughts, he decided to intervene.

He cast his hand forth, and thick vines began to pull themselves from underneath the temple's stones. They moved as though they were dancing snakes in their approach to the pillar. The air seemed to thin as all of the temple's occupants gasped. Even the ones who were trying to pull Kairi away stopped to observe the strange plants, the vines crawling up the pillar and pulling on the rope. It snapped, and Sora's body fell forward, into the vines' embrace.

Riku commanded his loyal plants to bring the boy to him. The leafy tendrils slithered across the floor, holding the prince high in the air. They gently placed him in the angry god's arms and moved around the pair.

Riku brushed the matted hair off Sora's face. He pulled the limp body close to his and cradled the boy's head on his chest, using his fingers to comb the hair. The god frowned as he found a strange lump in the midst of all the brown. The boy still hadn't healed from the wounds of his torture.

Angered further, Riku looked down on the people in the temple. His ire only peaked when he saw several knights coming in and drawing their bows at him. In response, Riku waved a hand, and his vines swooped down to slap the bows away.

The entire room gasped in shock. Then, a commotion started going on in back of the group. Whispers of, "No, your majesty, don't!" began floating about until the king stepped forth, coming into view. He glared at the god dangerously.

"Where is my son?" he demanded, infuriated.

Riku glared back at the king with his attention. Then he addressed his attention to the entire room.

"I am Riku, the god of earth," he announced. "I am the very god you worship." After a pregnant pause, Riku continued, "I am displeased with your actions, for you barely gave this boy a chance to defend himself—he is, in fact, your precious Prince Sora, who ran away a few nights ago."

Murmurs exploded through the crowd. Wisps of how he must be a god with his silver hair and of how he must be faking it with his witch powers made their way to Riku's ears. His anger grew, but he only kept his eyes on the king.

Kairi broke free from the monks who still had her. She stepped toward the god with determination glittering through her midnight blue eyes.

"We are incredibly sorry for this, your godliness. It was a misunderstanding! Please, give him back!" she pleaded.

Aquamarine eyes turned to her, and Riku sneered, "Too late! You were already offering him to me. Therefore, I will take him."

"But Great Riku! He is the prince—my fiancé!"

"He ran away for a reason," Riku snapped.

Riku quickly descended from his perch, gingerly carrying Sora in his arms. He then strolled into the pond of the temple, continuing to ignore Kairi's pleas.

**A/N: Nothing to say… Tee hee! Please review! The next chapter feels like it'll come sooner!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, now, I know what most of you are thinking: what took you so long? Well, computer troubles, for the most part. See, I had computer troubles for most of the summer. I did have chapter four typed up, but it was only in its second draft, and I forgot to print it out. So, at the beginning of October, when I finally got on one, I had to fix the draft. Then I had to fix the next draft and the next and send one to my beta… So, yeah! I'm sooo sorry for this!**

**Also, for anyone who has reviewed between the summer and October, maybe a little later, I'm sorry if I haven't replied to you. I don't know what came over me. I read but didn't reply. Just know that I really do appreciate all the wonderful things you've said.**

**Lynn Stardragon is my beta. Without her, I think my head would have exploded long ago. So thank you!! Yeah:)**

**Here is chapter four! I hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 4**

As soon as Riku reached his world, the agrarian deity carried Sora's body all the way to the Gods' Mansion. Other gods greeted him and tried to ask about the little package in his arms (who was also mumbling and snuggling into his arms every now and then), but he barely acknowledged them. He continued to walk through the halls until he heard a soft, almost shocked gasp. He rolled his eyes, getting tired of people making a big deal out of things, and turned to see Selphie, the Goddess of Love, standing not too far away from him.

"Riku, is that…?"

"Yes, Selphie, he's a human," Riku replied, feeling bored.

"Why the hell is he practically naked?!"

Riku raised his eyebrows and looked down at Sora. He supposed Sora was showing a lot of skin. His clothes were ruined, mostly just in tatters. It must have happened the night before as he was being tortured, but he couldn't figure out how he would miss something like that when they were in the cell. The God of Earth just shrugged and looked up at Selphie. She stood there with an incredulous look on her face.

Riku, now feeling more anxious to get Sora to safety, bowed his head to her and continued walking. He stopped once more when he felt a hand clasp his shoulder. Looking back, he saw that it was her again. She didn't say anything, only kept her eyes on the boy in his arms. She almost seemed mesmerized by him. Ever so carefully, almost as if he would otherwise crumble, she brushed away the soft brown hair from his eyes. She wasn't acting at all the way she normally would.

"Selphie?" Riku said quietly. "Are you all right?"

The goddess looked up at him and blinked. She shook her head; glanced at Sora again, this time in a strange sort of way; and then finally looked up at the silver god, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her lips.

"Of course I am!" she exclaimed, almost offended. "But… you've brought a human! How—why did you do this?"

Riku blinked. Slowly, his mind processed what it was he had been doing in the last few moments. He concluded that his actions were very strange, even for him. Though to be fair, the boy was a devoted follower of his who had been in imminent danger. And he did find the odd little human amusing. If the god were to be honest with himself, he was also still curious about the odd familiarity surrounding the boy. The brunet's personality and those eyes were just so damned… But still, why did he bring Sora all the way up to the Realm of the Gods? No mortal had ever stepped foot here before… And he could have taken the boy elsewhere. The god chuckled softly to himself: ever since he had met Sora, he had been doing things that were uncharacteristic of him.

Finally, he shrugged to the goddess and replied, "I guess I just felt like bringing him."

"Sephiroth will not be happy when he finds out," Selphie warned, a smile tugging away at her lips. "If he hasn't already, that is…"

"He won't mind this boy." Riku smiled coolly, turning to walk on.

"Ooh. You're going to pull some of that charm of yours on him?" she teased.

"Of course. And anyway, it's not as though he actually hates humans."

"Oh, that Sephy spoils you too much!"

Riku rolled his eyes and looked at her with a bored expression. Her talk was becoming irritating. The pale immortal began to walk away from her faster. He almost growled when he heard the goddess following him, scolding, "Don't you ignore me, Riku!"

The silver one sighed, "Selphie, please leave me alone. I need to get the boy to my room." As comfortable as his arms might have been, Sora needed a better place to rest.

She was now walking next to him, watching Sora again.

"Oh, yes… the boy…" The goddess's tone was strange. It was as though she was deep in thought about something. She shook her head and asked, "So, who is he? What makes this one human so special that the magnificent Riku just had to kidnap him?"

"His name is Sora, and he is a prince from my domain," he answered nonchalantly.

"You kidnapped a prince?!"

"Correction: I _saved_ a prince. His own followers were about to kill him—in the presence of his own father! Last night, he was tortured, which explains the state of his clothing."

The goddess gave a surprised expression then raised her brows, impressed. "My! How noble of you! You really know how to take care of your peons."

"It's the least I could do after what I did to him last night…" replied Riku in a tender voice.

Selphie froze. That tone was way too soft. In all the time she had been with Riku, not once had he ever used a tone like that. What happened between these two the night before? Could it be that…? Oh, her instincts as the Goddess of Love were now firing up. She giggled and continued on after them.

They had finally reached Riku's room. Pushing the door open, the godling quickly made his way to the bed. Selphie stayed back, watching him place the boy gently on the bed. He covered the boy with a blanket and brushed away a strand of hair. Yes… Riku was being particularly tender with him. Selphie was feeling excited, especially when a smile made its way on his face as he watched the boy rest. He reached out and touched a rather unsightly bruise on Sora's right cheek before frowning and turning back to the goddess.

"I have no clue what to do now," the Earth God replied sheepishly.

"Well, get ready to feed him and nurse him back to health, of course!"

Riku thought for a moment and sighed with despair. "But what do humans eat, then?"

"How would I know?" The goddess shrugged.

He rolled his eyes at her in slight amusement and turned toward the door. He took Selphie by the arm and brought her along.

"Wait! Where are you taking me?" the goddess cried as she tried digging her feet into the ground so that she would stay.

"To the gardens; maybe Marluxia can help us figure out what to give him."

With a sigh, Selphie began to follow him in search of the gardens.

A few minutes later, a fairly sleepy God of Darkness was shuffling his way to Riku's room. He had felt his cousin's energy come back, so he had forced himself out of sleep to be the first to greet the little one. However, he was still groggy and barely had his eyes open, so he was only relying on his other senses to getting there without stumbling on the train of his sleeping robe.

Xemnas opened the door and smiled through half-lidded eyes as he saw his target sleeping in bed. He quickly shuffled to it and climbed in. The dark one gathered the smaller body in his arms, wrapping his left around the waist and weaving the right underneath a torn shirt until it lay just above the heart, and finally sighed. Sleep began to slowly crawl into his mind.

He gently breathed in Riku's earthly scent… and something else. Something that was definitely not Riku. Senses beginning to clear up, he noticed that the body he was holding was not of the same build, either… It was smaller and thinner… And the energy wasn't that of his beloved cousin—was Riku suffering from some strange side effects from staying in the mortal world for as long as he did?!

Worried at the thought, the god opened his eyes… and froze…

Sora had no clue what was making him feel so good and warm. He thought the entire process of being burned was supposed to be horrible and hellish. Shouldn't he be hearing the crackle of the flames? And shouldn't he also smell his own flesh burning? How strange… And now that he thought of it, it didn't feel like he was tied to the pillar, either… It felt like he was lying on a bed with someone's arms around him.

He must be dead. He must be! That was the only explanation. He had died and gone to… wherever it was that humans went to; he couldn't remember at the moment, especially with the dull ache in his head that he was only now discovering.

Suddenly, the mass behind him shifted. Sora wondered what it was. Mentally, he laughed: maybe he had actually been saved, and it was Riku holding him. The thought worried him. Did Riku really do so, or was this someone else? Of course, this could all be just a dream. Whether he was dead, dreaming, or otherwise, he really wanted to know what was going on. And curiosity was already starting to get the better of him.

He was soon aware that the hold on his torso had slightly tightened. Sora slowly opened his eyes, and looked down to be sure, but what he saw was not what he expected. Yes, there were arms about him, but whereas Riku's were pale, these were of a beautiful mocha color. They seemed powerful, too, as though they could squeeze the life out of him at any second. One arm was rested around his waist, the other on his chest with the hand opened over his heart. Suddenly, the hand clenched, and he jumped in surprise. Slowly, he twisted his neck around… and was shocked by the angry sunset-golden eyes that met his.

"What are you doing here?" the stranger growled. The words hit him with an ice-cold rage.

Sora was surprised, to say the least. He didn't know what to do or what to say. All he knew was that this was some strange dream or whatever.

His collar was quickly snatched up by the man and before he knew it, Sora found himself being thrown off the bed, which caused him to yelp because of his injuries. He stared frantically at the golden-eyed man as said person rose from the bed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the man repeated himself.

Sora was speechless. The only thought he had was to escape. He moved to stand but soon found that he couldn't. Looking down, he was shocked to find his bum stuck in a growing puddle of oozing darkness. He tried to lift himself up, but then arms began to slowly come out of it, hands clasping around his ankles. Quickly, he brought his own hands over to rip off the appendages, but soon more came out from the great ooze and took a hold of his limbs. Then, they began to sink. Sora thrashed his body about, but it only served in tiring him out more and making them tighten their grip. When he thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, another hand shot out and wrapped its fingers around the base of his throat.

"Answer me!" the man yelled, getting out of the bed and walking toward him.

Finally, his mouth seemed to be functioning, but it was too late as the fingers around his throat were closing his windpipe in a way that made his voice come out in squeaks. He would never be able to explain himself to the man.

And just then, the doors burst open, and Riku and a girl came rushing in. Sora squinted at the silver-haired boy and wondered how it was that he always seemed to come at the right moment. Those were his last thoughts as he let himself surrender to the darkness, somehow knowing that Riku was going to get him out of this mess.

Riku was furious when he saw what Xemnas was doing to Sora. He quickly went to the unconscious boy's side and ripped away the offending appendages. Then he held the boy's waist and pulled him up and out of the puddle. When he was a fair distance away from that dark thing, he lightly tapped the boy's face but got no response. He turned his head and glared at his cousin, who was just standing by the puddle and blinking slightly in confusion.

"What the hell were you doing, Xemnas?" he demanded.

"Getting answers from this pest," the dark male answered, almost insulted. "Is it wrong for someone to try and welcome his cousin home only to find an intruder in his bed?"

"Getting answers? You were killing him!" The earth shaper was livid.

"Serves it right for being a weakling," Xemnas shrugged from his place, looking at his nails with mild interest and then waving his hand about to get rid of his little pool.

"But he is my guest! There was no reason for you to take it so far!"

The God of Darkness was scandalized by that last outburst. "Guest?" he uttered in disbelief.

"Of course he's a guest, Xemy," Selphie chimed from the door. "Why else would he be here in the first place?"

Xemnas was now blinking incredulously at the goddess.

"He brought a _human_ as a _guest_?" His darling cousin had done this? His Riku?!

"Yup!" she chirped. "What I don't get is why you had to attack him. He posed no threat to you—he's even injured, for Sephiroth's sake!"

"Yes, but this, this creature shouldn't have been here in the first place," Xemnas petulantly whined.

"Neither should you, yet you are always coming in to sleep with me," came Riku's seething voice.

Xemnas suddenly lunged and grabbed for Sora. He needed to get that thing away from his dear Riku before it caused the godling to say any more nonsense. However, just before he could touch even a hair of those brown spikes, a wall of stone shot up, knocking his hand off course. Xemnas gave the younger god a vicious look through the wall, and Selphie began to snicker.

The midnight god growled at the love goddess, turning his sunset gaze on her. The young girl only giggled harder, finding the whole situation priceless. Xemnas huffed, and turned his attention back to the silver youth. Not one to be left out of the fun, Selphie also tried to look around the wall to see what Riku was doing. The God of Darkness's eyes doubled in size when he saw that both Riku and the human were now in the bed, both under the covers. His cousin's full attention was on the thing's now oddly bluish face.

"Damnit, Xemnas, you should see him!" the Earth God growled. He pushed away a few strands of hair as he continued, "Even if he was someone who just happened to find himself in our world and then find himself in my room, you could have plainly taken him back to his world. I can't believe you were so irresponsible! I swear, if he's dead…"

"Ooh-hoo! Xemy is being bitched out!" Selphie giggled in a sing-song way.

"Be quiet!" Xemnas hissed and knocked down the wall with his arm.

The goddess jumped out of the way of the resulting rubble, only to shrug uncaringly, and skipped out of the room.

**Back in the Castle**

The palace was in an uproar. Rumors were spreading like wildfire. No one knew what to believe from the morning's events. Some people wondered what would happen to the prince who was spirited away by their own god. Others were frowning at those who didn't recognize Sora when he was in custody. Imagine the great Zexion and his sense of smell being completely off! And there was still the matter of the state of the kingdom—what of the union their kingdom had with the Light kingdom? Would Riku ever return Sora, or would the throne and the awaiting marriage go to Roxas?

Roxas sincerely hoped that wouldn't happen.

He had heard of the events in the temple after being rudely awakened for the second time that morning by the princess. She had ranted about what happened for several minutes until she finally grew quiet, immersed in her own thoughts. Shortly after, both of them were summoned to see the king in the throne room.

When they reached the room, Roxas was stunned to see his father slumped in his chair, face covered by a limp hand. He seemed so tired that it actually made him look older. The man was distressed. Of course he would be; his pride and joy had been taken away. Pandemonium had entered his world. Roxas hadn't seen the king like that since… four years ago…

After listening to the herald announcing them for a few seconds, the king slid his hand down to the bridge of his nose and looked solely at his other son, studying him with scrutiny. Roxas knew that look and resisted the urge to shift his weight. Soon, the king sat up and directed his attention to both of them.

"Well, I do not need to tell you what has happened this morning," he began, getting to the point. "It's tragic, but we must move on. My main concern, other than finding a way to quell Riku's anger, is about the state of the kingdom. I do not believe Sora will be returning to us any time soon. Couple that with our alliance with the Light Kingdom being at stake and we have quite a bit of a problem." The king's eyes briefly glanced at his son when he continued, "So, Roxas…"

Upon hearing the tone of his father's voice, Roxas knew what the man was going to suggest. With anger rising within him, he stepped forth and protested, "There is no way I am going to marry Kairi."

The king's eyes narrowed. "Then what do you suppose we do? Sora was the one promised to her, and he is not here. You are the only one who can take his place."

"But what if Sora comes back?" Kairi asked hopefully. She also didn't like how the situation was turning.

"What if he does not?" the king snapped. "We should be ready for the worst."

"But Father!" Roxas protested. "You know I am with Axel. There is no way this would work out."

"I have only allowed your relationship with the knight to continue because it seemed certain that Sora and Kairi would be together. Now, I'm not very sure; our great Riku may be punishing him because of his defiance, or even worse, he may have already killed him… We simply do not know what is going to become of us. My son, drastic times call for drastic measures. This is for the good of the kingdom."

"But he's not even a virgin!" Kairi blurted.

The silence that followed was thick. Roxas was aghast at how Kairi would even know about his and Axel's escapades since they usually used the more abandoned areas of the palace whenever they were in the mood. It was certainly not something he had wanted his father to know. How did she find out?

"Regardless," the king continued taking time to clear his throat, "the both of you will marry each other." The two opened their mouths again to argue, but the king raised a hand for silence. "My order will only be passed if Sora does not return by the Terranian. If he should come back, preparations for the ceremony between him and Kairi will immediately commence, and they will be married on that glorious day."

Roxas frowned. It seemed to be a lose/lose situation: on one hand, he could end up with Kairi and thus never truly be with Axel, and on the other, Sora would be trapped…

How ironic that his father should choose the Terranian as the wedding day. It was one of the kingdom's biggest holidays. It was a day to celebrate when one of Roxas's great ancestors had an encounter with Riku. At the time, the kingdom was in turmoil—there was a drought that had been going on for years which caused famine to spread throughout the land. According to history, Riku wanted to test the king to see if he and the people were truly deserving of his aid. He disguised himself as a hungry and injured man and collapsed in front of the palace gates. The king found him and nursed him back to health. Because of this, Riku then gave him the power to help his people.

The Terranian has been celebrated every year since then, for it stood for good will and prosperity. It also symbolized the purity of the royal bloodline from when Riku gave the king that power. Roxas had often wondered how long the bloodline would stay pure once Kairi was part of it…

His thoughts were interrupted by Kairi, who gave him a sharp nudge to the ribs. He looked up to see his father looking at him expectantly.

"Did you not hear me, Roxas?" the king asked. Not waiting for the boy's reply, he repeated, "I said that your punishment to spend every day with Kairi as her servant will be increased until either Sora comes back or the Terranian is here. I imagine this situation will break the ice that has been between you two for so long."

Roxas found himself about to argue, but he kept his mouth shut as he made a sidelong glance at Kairi. Feeling a bit mischievous, he bowed before the king and answered, "Yes, Father."

The unexpected answer caused the king to blink, but he soon recovered, waved his hand at them and said, "Yes, well I am finished with you. You are dismissed."

Kairi and Roxas bowed before him and left the room. As they walked, Kairi raised a skeptical brow at Roxas.

"What are you planning?" she asked.

"I'm planning out how to get Sora back to you," was the innocent answer.

"I thought you wanted to keep Sora away from me."

"I would, but there are some things that I can't help but sacrifice for my dear Axel."

"What about your father's order? Why didn't you argue about that?"

"Father always gets his way, no matter what. I simply didn't feel like overexerting myself today."

Roxas kept a straight face even though he was smiling smugly on the inside. He began to silently plot out how to help Sora and himself. He knew there just had to be a way.

Nodding in satisfaction at what he said, Kairi stepped forth to take the lead and announced, "Then the first thing we're going to do is pay a visit to Riku's temple."

Roxas only nodded, not really paying attention anymore, and followed the girl.

**Up above…**

Sora was still unconscious. The Earth God was still in bed with him, quietly watching the boy rest. He was happy that Sora's face was back to its normal color. Since he knew the boy would be okay, he could take a nap, however, Xemnas was in one corner of the room, glowering at the human, which made Riku concerned that he would try to do something again.

"So…" Xemnas soughed, "is that thing going to be your… pet?"

Riku ignored the question. After some seconds, Xemnas spoke again.

"So where do you think Selphie wandered off to?" he asked.

"She probably went to the gardens to get food for Sora; we went earlier but had to race back here when we felt your aura suddenly spike in this direction," he replied, tracing the boy's features with his fingertips.

Xemnas raised a brow. "It has a name?"

Riku finally glanced at his cousin. "Yes, _he_ has a name."

"How can you be sure it is a 'he'?" Xemnas asked with a smirk.

"Because it's quite obvious; the human anatomy is similar to us gods'," Riku explained, rolling his eyes. "He's not one of those… things that have been roaming around your domain for the last few centuries."

"My Heartless and Nobodies? The majority of them are male. Very few female."

Riku shuddered. It had been quite a while since he had seen those creepy things, but he still remembered how they moved. There weren't too many things that made him squirm but… those things were just disgusting! Not to mention, they didn't even seem all that useful; last time he saw them was when he was looking into his cousin's domain. They were all attacking the humans, and for all that time, Xemnas had done nothing to stop them.

Deciding to forget those things, he turned his attention back to Sora's peaceful, sleeping face and frowned. When would he get up? It was taking so long; he was getting jittery. Maybe it had to do with that bizarre lump that was still in all that chestnut brown hair.

Riku tensed when he suddenly felt Xemnas's presence over him. Irritated, he turned around and found himself almost nose to nose with his cousin's enraptured face. He had that same look in his eyes, the look he had whenever he wanted to tell Riku of one of his "great" plans to overthrow his brother. Riku thought he seemed a little aroused but, as always, shrugged the thought away.

The other god's warm breath washed over him as Xemnas whispered, "You know, there is a reason why creatures like him and the Heartless live in a world below us."

Riku was about to address him when Sora began to moan. He then forgot about his creepy cousin and smiled excitedly at the boy.

Once again, Sora awoke, and again, he felt strange. It was different this time, though. Both his head and throat hurt like hell, and his thoughts weren't quite connecting in a way that made sense. He opened his eyes, but his vision began to spin. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then opened them again. He was pleased to see that silver-haired fool and gave him a lopsided grin.

"Hello," he giggled.

Riku laughed, "How do you feel?"

"Terrible," Sora moaned. "I can't seem to stop dreaming about strange things. I'm not even sure if I've died yet. And the pain I'm feeling is near unbearable."

"Hmm," Riku said thoughtfully. "I'll need to remember to get you some medicine, then…"

Sora's thoughts were slowly swimming back together, but somehow that last statement wasn't clicking very well. He also thought it odd when he felt Riku's hands parting his hair. He shook his head, and the silver boy let go.

"Maybe I'll ask either Vexen or Demyx for some ice to take care of that," the silver boy muttered.

"Why bother?" Sora rasped. "It's not like it would help me out for long."

Riku snickered, "Really? That's such a shame, prince. I thought it would do some good, considering the fact that I've helped you escape from danger…"

Sora was confused. But then his mind began to remember being at the temple and all the fire and being bashed over the head with wooden beams. The memory was so vivid that… no… Riku couldn't have… Sora turned and saw Riku nodding with a smile.

"Riku, I told you to let me die!" Sora yelled. He slowly reached up with a weak hand and tried to smack Riku with it, only managing to bat away a few silver locks. Riku was only pulling his head away every time that hand came close to his face. It was quite amusing to see him get a little riled up.

The God of Loam replied innocently, "I couldn't do it, Sora. You were only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Can you really blame me for what I did?"

With a huff, Sora continued to flap his hand about as he groaned, "You dolt… Do you even know of the consequences we'll be facing?"

Riku continued to chuckle at the prince's feeble attempts to hit him. The brunet was wonderfully amusing, and he realized that it was a very good thing that he'd rescued such a silly boy from his domain. He was already thinking of the kinds of adventures they would share around the realms.

Soon, he became so caught up in his musings that Sora finally managed to get Riku with a light, yet still effective, smack to the cheek. Suddenly, the human found himself struck on his own cheek with a force that made him dizzy again. Then he found himself being pressed against the bed, his face being held in a bone-crushing grip. Ocean blue eyes widened at the sight of the silver-haired man from what he thought had been a dream snarling above him.

"You dare hit him? You dare touch a being that is on a higher—much higher—scale than yourself?" the man roared. His hold was becoming tighter, and he violently shook his shoulders.

Sora could only stare up at the feral golden eyes in fear. But then it seemed as though the man was being pulled away, and his eyes looked up to see Riku pulling back on the man's shoulders.

"Calm down, Xemnas; I've never told him of what I am!" he yelled.

Riku promptly let go for a second and then raised his foot to give a good kick at the man's side. Xemnas let go of Sora with a grunt and fell on the ground. Before he had a chance to get up, Riku lunged on him, and Sora could hear them scuffling around a bit.

When the fight seemed to be over, Sora began to relax. He sat up in bed, massaging his aching jaw. Then Riku came back in view. Sora was relieved to see he was fine. The man wasn't showing up, though. Did Riku knock him out?

"Who was that?" Sora asked.

"I'm sorry, that was my cousin," Riku sighed, embarrassed.

"Cousin?" Sora tilted his head to the side in adorable confusion.

"Yes. He can be quite the hothead if you piss him off just right. Sometimes it's hard to control him but not right now."

Riku pointed his head toward the footboard of the bed. His aquamarine eyes also shifted in that direction. They were staring at the ground. Sora couldn't see, so he leaned forward cautiously and blinked. There was the scary silver-haired man, who was glaring at him with hatred. What was odd was that he was being held down by… well… a gigantic hand made out of dirt. It held on tight to his torso from just below his pectorals to just over his knees. The tip of the large thumb was up and pressed over the silver-haired man's lips, muffling all angered screams coming from him. It would have struck Sora as hilarious if not for the look of death in the man's eyes.

"He needs a few more seconds to cool off," Riku piped cheerfully as he tapped the ground with his foot a few times.

With each tap, a wall of earth would rise up around his cousin, creating a sort of box. Almost instantly after said box was made, it began to crumble into pieces, and the cousin stood up from the rubble. He glared at Riku in an annoyed manner.

"Feeling better, Xemy?" Riku asked innocently as he slipped back into bed.

"You can be quite cruel sometimes," Xemnas grumbled, patting away at some dust on his shoulder.

"You should just be glad I granted you some shade to manipulate as soon as I did," Riku replied. "I was honestly considering keeping you in that grip for a while." The young silver god turned to the prince in amusement and announced, "Behold, my cousin, Xemnas!"

"Xemnas?" Sora was surprised at first then glared at Riku. Really, it was a bad joke that was becoming old. "Will you please stop joking?"

Riku snorted in amusement, and Xemnas quirked a brow quizzically from his place at the foot of the bed. The younger of the gods leaned forward to explain, "It's true, Sora; it is not a sin for us to bear the names of your gods, for we are—"

"Oh, Riku, look who I found spying at your door!" Selphie's singing voice interrupted.

The door was kicked open, and the girl from before came in, carrying a small tray full of various kinds of fruits and vegetables of different shapes and sizes, some of which Sora had never seen, which suddenly made the boy feel a bit hungry. She set the tray in Riku's hands and greeted Sora with a warm smile. Then another person walked in, this one looking a lot like Riku.

"Why, hello, dear big brother Sephiroth," Riku greeted somewhat nervously, "what brings you here?"

The man smiled as he walked into the room, but then the little human that was in bed caught his attention, and the smile widened as he entered. To Sora, he seemed to be gliding, but that may have been because of the billowy robe he was wearing.

"Oh, not much," he replied to Riku's question, seeming slightly annoyed. "Just some gossip that's been spreading around about a new aura that has been spreading throughout the Manor. Along with that there is also the matter of the few aggressive spurts of energy that have been passing by, and the fact that both Cloud and Leon kicked me out of bed so that I would investigate."

"So that's why you're in your robe!" Selphie giggled.

Sephiroth made an embarrassed face before he reached the bed and sat down. He had his arms crossed as he looked at Sora with a strange, pleasant smile. Sora only blinked at him and hoped he wasn't anything like the crazed cousin who was still patting dust off himself.

"I wonder, though," Sephiroth continued, "if anyone has noticed that since about the time this little one has arrived, there has been a bit of a balance in the air that has not been felt for several centuries. It's odd that this has been caused by none other than a human."

Riku was the first to speak, "Look, Brother, I know he is not supposed to be here but—"He was stopped when a hand rose for his silence.

Sephiroth leaned into Sora, studying him with those piercing green eyes. However, he was too close for Sora's comfort, so the boy tried to scoot away. Sadly, his back met Riku's chest. He felt Riku's hands on his shoulders, keeping him steady, and he shook himself from their grasp. But once he looked up, he was staring back at Sephiroth's eyes. There was something about them… He decided he didn't like them too much. They seemed to be hiding some secret from him. Oh, but that was silly—they only just met.

Finally, after a moment, the man chuckled.

"All right. He may stay."

"What?!" Xemnas squawked from his side of the room.

"He. May. Stay," Sephiroth repeated, smiling at his cousin defiantly.

"How wonderful! You didn't even have to ask, Riku," Selphie giggled as she began to dance around the room.

"Thank you, Sephiroth," Riku said with a relieved sigh.

Sora, feeling very lost, looked at everyone in the room. He was getting frustrated and tired of all the confusion. Quite frankly, he didn't care about what was going on and just wanted to sleep for a while. What bothered him was why this crazy family insisted on taking the names of gods. There must have been a bet going on that he didn't know about, or maybe they were all brazen witches like Riku... Oh dear Sephiroth, he was indebted to a witch for saving his life. No, no, he couldn't think like that; he had to keep things in perspective. He was supposed to be punished for disobeying the true Riku's will, and this was all a part of the earth god's divine plan. Right, he had to keep his faith in Riku strong.

"So what is going on?" he yawned, resisting the urge to snuggle under the covers. He figured he might as well try to figure something out.

"I'd like to know the same thing," Xemnas snapped, glaring at Sephiroth. "Why are you letting him stay? He is human! Humans don't belong!"

"I have my reasons, Xemnas," Sephiroth stated. "The boy will stay, if he so wishes."

"I'm not staying anywhere; I'm supposed to be burned to death!" Sora said stubbornly.

"That can be arranged," the Dark God hissed.

"Why would you want to die, Sora?" Selphie asked thoughtfully. "You don't seem like the type to want to give up on life so easily. Life should be cherished, no matter how short or miserable it is!"

"I just need to."

"Oh, don't be so foolish. There's really no need!" the girl continued.

"How about I just let my darkness overwhelm him? That would be a nice way for him to go. And I would have a new Heartless, to boot!" Xemnas suggested, though it didn't seem to be directed at anyone.

Selphie shook her head as though the idea was disgusting while Sora only cocked his head to the side, wondering what the man meant.

Sephiroth seemed bored as he watched the three and turned to his younger brother in a more business manner.

"So, Riku, have you successfully killed that wench?" he asked.

Riku froze. The one thing he didn't do… His face flushed with embarrassment, and he tried to look at anything but those green eyes.

"No, I haven't," Riku mumbled sheepishly, playing around with his fingers. "I completely forgot about doing that because of all the drama that was going on in the human world. I don't see how I could have since I spent most of the day with her yesterday…"

Sephiroth raised a brow and remarked, "It's not like you to be so forgetful."

"I know, and I would have remembered eventually, had I not come home earlier than I expected." At this point, Riku stared at Sora, knowing full well that it was his fault he got sidetracked. He shrugged, though, since he couldn't change what happened and replied, "Don't worry; I'll go back and kill the one named Kairi."

A hand shot out and gripped Riku's wrist. The god blinked at it then let his eyes follow it to the arm and up until he saw Sora's angry face. He wasn't hurting Riku or anything, but the young god was surprised by the amount of force being put by it. It was almost as though that hand could snap his wrist if the boy actually tried to.

"Bastard!" Sora hissed. "Don't you dare touch her! What right do you have to do something like that?"

"The girl woke me up three nights ago with her squawking," Sephiroth cut in. "She needs to be punished."

"What kind of reasoning is that? She was only releasing the pent-up frustration she had because I was trying to run away from our arranged marriage."

"Oh, so you are that prince I heard so much about?" Sephiroth asked, interested.

Sora let go of Riku's wrist and put his hand on his chest with a nod. "Yes. I'm the reason you were disturbed."

"So it is you who should be punished?" The pale man smirked.

"You may as well; I am supposed to be a dead man!"

Sora was breathing heavily. It was all he could do to keep the frustration from giving him a terrible migraine. He couldn't believe how simple-minded these people were being. What didn't they understand about "I want to die"?

Sephiroth calmly watched him. He leaned into the boy again and made sure he wouldn't look away. He seemed genuinely curious, now.

"You must not pay attention to your studies, Prince, if you are speaking to me in such a fashion."

"I am only speaking to you 'in such a fashion' because I do not want my best friend to die for a stupid reason!"

"So you would prefer to take her place, then?"

"Why not? Everything is my fault!"

Sora gave an exasperated sigh. A small laugh escaped from Selphie. Riku also seemed amused, but Xemnas seemed appalled. Sephiroth, however, threw his head back with roaring laughter.

"Riku, you have brought quite the amusing creature to our home. Most humans would grovel before me and beg for my forgiveness but not this one. He is either brazen or stupid!"

"Why would I grovel before _you_?" Sora snapped.

"Because I am Sephiroth, ruler of the gods," he simply stated.

"Now, I know you are lying," Sora ground out slowly. "Both you and Riku. I'm not worthy of meeting even one god, let alone three—or are you also on, miss?"

"Yes, I am!" the goddess stated proudly. "My name is Selphie."

Sora smacked his head and let out a groan. It was then that he heard Riku snickering. He turned to him in anger, wanting an explanation for his insolence. His nostrils flared when he saw Riku's hand trying to smother the sounds.

"I'm sorry, Sora," Riku replied amusedly behind his hand. "It's just that you are a bit slow. Just think about all the things that happened whenever we were together."

"You used some form of witchcraft," Sora said stubbornly.

"Yes, but whether I was a witch or an ordinary boy, how is it that I could have set foot in the temple, freed you from a burning pillar of wood, and avoid being harmed by your knights' weapons?"

Sora took a few minutes to think. And the more he thought, the more his eyes widened at the truth. He didn't want to believe it, but… He looked first at Sephiroth, then Selphie, and then Xemnas, pleading with his eyes that none of this was true. Then he turned to Riku, his face flushed brightly.

"Riku… I—I'm, I'm so sorry!" he apologized, bowing his head low before his god.

"It's all right, Sora," the Earth God replied.

"But I've hit you at least twice, I've slept with you, and—and we kissed! I should have known it all along! Is it because of my actions that you showed up? Oh, of course they are, and you're going to punish me!"

The silver godling groaned, "Do all humans have as unhealthy a fascination with punishment as you? I told you, you could all do as you pleased, and all we gods would ask of you is your continued prayers and faith in us! Truly, if I wanted to punish you, then why did I just rescue you?"

The room was filled with laughter from all of the gods except Xemnas. Sora was upset at the others, but the God of Darkness intrigued him. He saw that the god seemed more shocked than amused. Then he glared at the prince with such ferocity that the boy felt a little bit nervous. Sora made a mental note to stay as far away from him as possible.

Xemnas suddenly coughed loudly, causing all of the room's occupants to stare at him.

"I'd hate to interrupt our bit of fun," he said, "but I need to steal Riku for a few minutes."

"What for, cousin?" the Earth God asked.

"Just. Come." Xemnas didn't sound too pleased.

Riku pouted at his cousin before giving Sora a reluctant look, setting the nearly forgotten food tray next to him, and following after the god.

Sora exhaled softly when the two gods left. He didn't know which was worse: being stared down by Xemnas or being teased and fussed over by his own god.

As he pondered this, his stomach began to growl. He blushed, thinking about what great timing this was. His eyes strayed down to the tray, where the food sat innocently. His hand stretched out and reached for something that looked normal, an apple. He brought it close and was about to take a bite when he suddenly wondered if he really should.

"Eat it," said the Head God. "I'm sure Selphie and Marluxia made sure to bring something that originated from your world for you."

"Of course!" piped Selphie, bouncing closer to Sora's side of the bed. "We also picked some from a few other worlds, in case you felt like trying something new."

Sora nodded and quickly took a big bite out of the apple. It was juicy and ripe and sweet, sweet, sweet! But then he guessed that anything grown by gods would taste better than anything humans could produce. The prince wondered if the gods also ate meat because if they did, then that probably tasted better, too. But oh, his inattention to his studies would probably be the death of him here. He was lucky enough to be alive after his outburst at Sephiroth. Speaking of the head god, he caught Sephiroth watching him with interest. The boy promptly looked down, finding the sheets to be quite fascinating. Sephiroth began to chuckle.

"This one amuses me so; he is awkward," Sephiroth mused. "He almost reminds me of that brother of yours, Selphie."

He reminded Sephiroth of another god? What an honor! But which one was it? If only he would remember his schooling; he was regretting ever falling asleep during his classes. Wasn't there a little song or something that went with the gods to show their relations? If he remembered correctly, there was a verse that began with Selphie. And Selphie was the Goddess of Love. So then, Love paired with… Love went with… Light. Kairi's god! Of course, how could he be so stupid to forget? He'd always been interested in that god—especially since it was that very god's fault he had to marry Kairi in the first place…

The goddess lightly scoffed and trained her eyes on him. Her eyes were filled with a kind of amusement, though Sora could somehow see an underlying pain within their depths. Almost as soon as he discovered it, she shook her head with a little chuckle.

"I suppose there are some similarities," she agreed thoughtfully. "No doubt this one's presence will cause quite a bit of commotion for a while because of that." She turned to Sephiroth and gave him a skeptical look. "So why are you letting him stay? I was sure that Riku would have had to beg you to keep him here, only to be turned down. Surely it is not for the sake of this new balance?"

Sephiroth was unconsciously playing around with a piece of fruit. He chuckled and captured Sora in his gaze. Then he began to throw the fruit up and catch it in his hand. "It's nothing. I just think there is room for a small change is all. Who knows? It could do us all some good."

**Over by Riku and Xemnas…**

"Xemnas, where are you taking me?" Riku sighed as they were going down the hall, feeling a bit annoyed to leave his room. More specifically, to leave the side of a certain blue-eyed boy from down below…

He gasped when his hand was grabbed, and he was pulled up close to his cousin's side.

"What the hell possessed you to bring such an incompetent fool into our world?!" Xemnas spat out in fury.

"I'm still trying to figure that out, myself," Riku shrugged. "But you know, I don't believe he is an incompetent fool. He's just a little…"

"Not only that," Xemnas continued, not even hearing what Riku said, "but he kissed you, too! He stole your first kiss! How dare he? How dare you let him?"

"It's not as though we meant it to happen," Riku protested. "It was completely my fault. But…" Riku's lips turned up in a smile that Xemnas had never seen before. It was sweet and warm, and the thought of it turning up for that glorified monkey made Xemnas sick. He painfully bit his tongue to keep from howling out in anger when Riku lightly brushed his lips with two fingers and continued, "It was nice…"

Xemnas paused in his walking and clenched his fists. He calmly counted down from ten before growling, "There is also the matter of you sleeping with him." He pushed the smaller god against the wall by the shoulders. "How can you allow yourself to give your innocence to—to _him_? You've been perfectly pure for so long and now—you've been tarnished! By something that won't even live for more than a century! I can't even believe that Sephiroth doesn't even seem to care. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"That there are plenty of others whom I've slept with throughout my life, including you and Sephiroth."

Xemnas blinked at the response. Riku pulled his arms off his shoulders and put his hands on his hips, a scowl planted firmly on his face.

"All we did was sleep," Riku continued. "He was just embarrassed because he used my chest for a pillow."

"So you never…"

"Of course not. I would never give myself up so easily."

"Good," Xemnas sighed, "because I was about to turn around and kill him—for good."

It was Riku's turn to be angry. He summoned his ever faithful vines to creep up behind his cousin and wrap themselves around his waist. Before Xemnas knew it, he was thrown up against the wall. Then he found Riku's face close to his, looking so adorable in his anger.

"Don't even think about it," he seethed, "touch one hair on his head, and I will—"

"Why do you defend him so?"

"Because he is mine!" Riku nearly roared. He backed away from his cousin and continued, "I'll not have you touch him without my consent."

Xemnas was now ripping off the vines in anger. It was anger towards the human who had somehow turned his beloved Riku against him.

"Fine, enjoy your pet while you can; he won't last long!" he spat.

Riku stomped off down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Xemnas demanded, just finishing getting off the last of the green tendrils.

Riku ignored him.

**Back in the Castle with Roxy…**

Roxas was not quite happy. Why was this? Because Kairi had taken him to the temple, which he was now eyeing narrowly. He hated it. Hated each and every stone slab that made it up. Hated how there were monks traveling up and down it in a panic. It meant nothing but trouble in his life since that fateful day four years ago…

"So, why are we in front of the temple again, Kairi?" Roxas asked.

"We're going to pray, of course!" She swept her hand up towards the entrance, as if that answered everything. "We need Riku's forgiveness if we are to bring Sora back."

The prince peeked out of the corner of his eye at the girl, who had a look of determination in her eyes. Determination or foolishness. Without another word, she scampered up the steps. Roxas took his sweet time following. She continued on until she reached the entrance, which was being blocked by several monks.

"Please let us in!" Kairi ordered.

"No, Princess, we cannot let you," one monk said.

"And why not?" the princess asked, placing her hands on her hips expectantly.

The monks looked at each other nervously, as though they didn't want to do anything to anger the princess. Finally, the second monk bowed his head and replied, "Riku was very angered by our recent actions. This has never happened before, so we do not know how long it will take until he forgives us. It would be wise not to bother him for now, as it could anger him even further. You understand, don't you?"

"But I'm only going to ask if he can bring Sora back," the princess reasoned.

"We know, Princess, but we do not want to risk losing you, as well; he was not particularly happy when you asked the first time, so we do not want anything happening to you."

It seemed to Kairi that there was no way of convincing them. She turned around and went down the steps in a huff. Roxas, who had only gotten halfway up them, was relieved when he saw Kairi coming down them. As soon as she passed him, he followed after her.

At the bottom, she paused for a minute, as though deep in thought. Roxas looked at her curiously. Finally, she nodded her head and turned to him.

"Roxas, I want you to get packed," she stated. "We're going on a journey."

The prince blinked at the sudden suggestion.

"Pack? Where are we going?"

"We're going to the Dark Kingdom," the girl simply replied as she began walking toward the castle. "Maybe bringing our case up to another god who is close to your Riku, like Xemnas, will help bring Sora back."

Roxas blinked. "But why the Dark Kingdom? Why can't we go to your kingdom? I'm sure you would be able to explain things easier to your own god. It is because of Hikaru that our kingdoms were allied through marriage, after all."

She waved her hand at him as though the idea was silly. "Nonsense, this kingdom is closer to the Dark Kingdom. And also, Xemnas is Riku's cousin, right? Well, I don't see why he shouldn't help us."

Roxas thought she was crazy. The expression on her face told him as much. She didn't see why a god shouldn't help them? Those words made her seem arrogant! This obsession was starting to get unhealthy. Wouldn't it have been simpler to contact her own parents, explain what had happened, and ask for their help or advice? Although... no, his father would want to keep this quiet. But still, the Dark Kingdom?!

"I'll ask the king for permission to leave and round up a few knights," the girl continued.

She was about to run off, but she was stopped when Roxas clasped her hand and turned her around.

"Wouldn't this cause some sort of controversy?" the prince asked. "You are the princess of the _Light_ Kingdom going to visit the _Dark_ Kingdom. You're not exactly on good terms these days. It's too dangerous to go there."

"We'll be fine, Roxas. Oh, and don't forget to invite Sir Axel, too, when he gets back; we'll need all the strong knights we can gather."

Before the prince could argue any further, Kairi ran off into the castle and toward the throne room. Roxas stood for several seconds, shaking his head at how foolish the girl was becoming. She sat through the same lessons as Sora and he, so she knew just as well as they (okay, so maybe Sora didn't know this as well as the inside of his eyelids) that Xemnas was not a kind god. He had his own interests and plans and despised light in all its forms, including Hikaru himself. The dark god would do nothing without some kind of price demand or incentive given beforehand from the beseeching party—most times he asked for both! Roxas didn't think the deity was above saving Sora only to claim Kairi's soul for his own and then crow about the balance of world order or something equally as complex and vague. The prince sighed and made his way to his room. He shuffled to his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Was she really serious? The Dark Kingdom? Along with the fearsome Xemnas being there, many rumors had been going around of that place, like those of some strange creatures running around and taking people's hearts and such. Kairi must be crazy if she wanted to go there to ask that god for assistance. Xemnas hadn't done anything to help his people, so why did she think he would ever want to help her?

Although, truth be told, there was no real chance that Kairi would actually get permission from his father to go on such an outlandish suicide mission. But the princess wasn't going to lie to his father, right? That would be stupid and dangerous! No, something just wasn't adding up here. Something had happened to the sweet, but awkward girl that had been matched to Sora so long ago. Roxas couldn't figure out what it was at the moment. He hadn't really cared about the girl since he was a child. Actually, he couldn't even remember what it was about her he didn't like back then…

"Roxy!"

Roxy? Was it really…? Roxas sat up in bed and was greeted with the wonderful sight of his beloved, still dressed in his knightly clothes. The redhead was panting slightly, his brows knotted in worry.

"Hey, Axel, what a pleasant surprise," he happily greeted. "What are you doing back so soon?"

Axel soon caught his breath and said, "The search was called off because of what happened at the temple. Once I came back, the king requested an audience with me and told me what might be happening. Damnit, I can't believe any of this!"

Roxas smiled warmly at his lover as the other walked toward the bed on nearly wobbly legs. He wrapped his arms around his love in a comforting embrace. However, Axel pulled back and held his face in both hands. Roxas just pouted, his arms now circled about that thin waist.

"What the hell are we going to do?" the knight continued, hiding his face in the crook of the blonde's neck. "I mean, I don't want Sora to get into something he won't be happy with, especially after all the work we did the other night, but I don't want to lose you, either!"

Roxas was beginning to feel himself get frustrated at the knight for not being in the mood. They hadn't seen each other for nearly two days! And here he was being sexy and worrisome. Oh, that blasted knight didn't know how much he was missed! Still, he needed to help him relax.

"I know, I know…" the prince answered, running a comforting hand up and down the redhead's spine.

Axel pulled back again and groaned. "And not only that, but we can't really be together until either Sora comes back or Kairi suddenly dies!"

"I know, I know. Too bad we can't make the latter happen."

The prince was gently patting his knight's back. As soon as the redhead seemed to relax from his ministrations, Roxas allowed his hands to wander down his back until they reached his pants. Then he had his fingers tease the skin that was just under the waistband.

Roxas almost laughed when Axel's body withdrew from him in surprise, and he grinned as he saw how the green eyes narrowed and that mouth turned down into a scowl. "Focus, Roxas! It's hard enough trying to figure out what to do in a panic, but to have you turn me on while I'm panicking? Hell, the only reason I made that agreement with you was because I thought I could last a week, but now—"

Axel gave a shuddering breath as Roxas suddenly used his hand to push against his chest with surprising strength until he was lying flat on his back. The prince straddled his hips and began nipping at his love's neck, hands reaching down and slowly pulling up on his shirt.

"Then fuck the agreement," Roxas breathed into his ear. He began pressing kisses along the broad chest he bared, causing the knight's breath to hitch. Roxas smiled as he continued, "Besides, I have cooperated with Kairi quite well over the last day and a half. I should get some reward for that much." He suckled against the sweet, protruding collarbone.

"Nngh!" groaned Axel. Things were beginning to get annoying with Roxas suddenly wanting to have a romp on the bed during such a critical moment. "But what about—a-ah!"

Roxas had given him a harsh bite on his shoulder.

"Oh, Axel, let me do this," the prince breathed. "It may be a long time before we have another chance to fool around. You see, Kairi wants us to go to the Dark Kingdom with her. I think she may have gone crazy with everything that has happened, but she's already gone to ask for Father's permission."

"Go to the Dark Kingdom?" Axel panted, tangling his fingers in the spiky hair. "What, is it to bring back Sora? It sounds like something she would do."

Somehow, that comment irked the prince. As punishment, he flicked his tongue over a hardening nipple before biting down on it hard and causing the knight to cry out. He looked up from it and reasoned, "Here's how I see it, my beloved knight: there are three scenarios that I've thought of in which we can go about to solve the entire who marries whom problem."

Before voicing the scenarios, he had his wet tongue circling the areola of that nub before enclosing his mouth over it. He laved at it slowly, tortuously with his tongue until Axel was groaning for him to stop. Roxas did so with an evil snicker and continued, "For the first one, should Sora come back, we can arrange for him to run away on the night of the marriage ceremony—right after the 'I do's'. It would be elaborately planned by the both of us, of course—not like the other night when it was more of a spur of the moment type of thing. And it would be quite easy; most of the security would be drunk from all the festivities."

Roxas leaned his head down and continued his treatment with the other nipple, making sure to suckle it extra well. When he was done with it, he raised his head.

"Secondly, should he not return and I have to marry her, then we can fake my death and hide ourselves in some far off land."

At the sound of those words, Axel came out of the drunken euphoria he had been in and growled, "No!"

Roxas was pleased to see the protective look in the depths of those emerald eyes as he was grabbed by the shoulders in a tight embrace.

"There's no way in hell I'd go along with your fake death. I know you. You'd find a way to do it so well that I'd forget it's all a ruse. And then what should happen to you once you're put in the family crypt? I could have sworn I read some tragedy where something like this happened, and the lovers ended up killing themselves. No, I don't want to go through any unnecessary pain just so that we can be together." **/1/**

Roxas reached down and caressed one of the tear-shaped tattoos under Axel's eyes. Softly, he replied, "Fine, we'll toss that one out. But now you won't like my third suggestion."

Axel gave him a fierce kiss before saying, "As long as it doesn't involve anything stupid like that again, I won't mind."

"Well…" Roxas looked off to the side. He didn't think the last scenario was stupid, but the knight might. Then again, he did love when Axel was upset with him.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe, during the trip we might be taking with Kairi, we could maybe 'lose' her. And then maybe she could mysteriously drown or some animal can come up and…"

"Roxas, I thought I told you that I wanted to see you making up with her," the knight scolded.

"All right, so it was a stupid plan." Roxas shrugged. "Never mind about it, then."

Axel sighed and massaged his temples in irritation. Really, sometimes the prince was just too much. He decided to change the subject a bit as he said, "You know, there would be some problems with these plans. One of them is Kairi's feelings. I mean, she's spent her whole life knowing she was betrothed to Sora, never once thinking of another man. Now suddenly, all of her dreams are being snatched away from her in the unlikeliest of ways."

Roxas got off the knight and folded his arms stubbornly. "Maybe if she wasn't so annoying, none of this would have happened."

"Roxas…" Axel scolded. "Where's the progress we were talking about? If you're not careful, you'll never be able to fuck my ass into next week."

The blonde prince sighed with a little pout. "Then maybe she'll learn to love another."

"But what of our kingdoms?"

Roxas tapped his chin lightly before giving an uncaring shrug and suggesting, "If they are desperate enough, then they can have her marry Father." He couldn't help but wonder if maybe Riku didn't want their kingdoms joined, given if the god's reported reaction was any indication. If that was true, then it was one thing Roxas saw eye to eye with the god.

Axel grimaced at the image that popped into his head. He shivered and asked, "Would you really be all right with that, Roxas? She'd be your stepmother—a stepmother who is younger than you."

"I won't have to care because I don't plan on being around for long."

The knight covered his face with a hand at the prince's bullheadedness and stupidity. Sometimes he was just like that brother of his. Axel put his hands on his love's shoulders and turned him about so that he could stare straight into those eyes of his and said, "Think about it: Kairi would be our queen. With you and Sora gone, she would have to produce an heir for the kingdom, meaning she and the king would have to—"

Roxas's eyes widened as the implications of what the knight was saying finally reached him, and he quickly covered that mouth before the knight said it. When it seemed as though the knight wouldn't say any more, he took his hand away and sighed with relief. Axel, however, put his hand under his chin and turned his head so he would look deeply into his green eyes.

"Tell me, Roxy, how would you feel if I suddenly didn't want to be with you? What would you do if I was trying to run away?" the redhead asked softly.

"Well, there is no chance of that happening since you are so addicted to me," the blonde laughed.

Axel scoffed and turned his body away, shaking his head. Roxas pouted, but he calmed down and began to think more rationally. And it was so sad: Roxas was no longer in the mood to molest his dear knight.

"Why do you suddenly care about what she thinks, Axel?" the prince asked. "Why do you seem to care so much more about the kingdom than about me?"

"Well, Kairi is my friend, for one thing, Roxy. No matter what, I'd always feel guilty about hurting her. And I'm just very loyal to this kingdom; if not for this place, who knows what would have become of me when I was a kid?"

Roxas's bottom lip stuck out in a pout. "So does this mean you are more loyal to the kingdom than to me?"

Axel leaned in towards that cute, round face, his teeth gently biting that lip. "Of course not, dear heart. I'm just grateful that being in this place brought me to you."

The prince smiled sweetly at the knight. He rewarded his love by giving him a sweet kiss. Axel was more than happy to oblige.

**Back in the Gods' Manor…**

Sora was resting in Riku's bed, thankful to finally be alone. It hadn't been long since Sephiroth and Selphie left him. After the strange moment when he was being compared to Hikaru and being told that he would cause changes, he had been bombarded with questions by the goddess about how he met Riku and such, while the silver god sat back and enjoyed the atmosphere. He didn't speak much, only opting to study him with those green eyes. He seemed rather cheery, and it was unnerving to Sora. It was something he just wasn't expecting from the top god.

Sora decided to commence in a staring contest with him, just to see why he was doing it. Unfortunately, he lost due to the headache that suddenly began pounding away at his head. Almost as soon as it happened, Sephiroth stood and left, taking the chatty Selphie and the still nearly full food tray with him.

When he was sure he was all alone, Sora made himself more comfortable on the bed and closed his eyes. The silky feel of the sheets felt strange on bare skin, and he remembered that his clothes weren't in very good shape. He knew he should ask for some new ones but decided that he could do it later, when they were actually needed. He was almost into dreamland when he thought he heard the door opening. He didn't care about it, though. That is, until he heard his name being called out.

He felt a gentle tapping on his cheek that was becoming annoying, so he opened one blue eye. He saw only a green eye staring directly into his and almost thought it was Sephiroth until he saw the tint of blue swimming in it. He opened his other eye and just stared at Riku's concerned face.

"Are you in pain?" Riku asked worriedly.

"A bit," whispered Sora. "It's nothing serious."

A smile tugged itself onto Riku's face as he offered the boy a cup, saying, "Take this; it's a remedy I had Marluxia make for you."

Marluxia? That name didn't ring a bell. Not a one. That was the oddest thing. Sora knew he didn't pay attention when he was in school, but he would know if he had heard of that name. Was it possible that the all the kingdoms had forgotten a god? No, that couldn't be… could it?

Now feeling guilty, Sora took the cup and swirled it about. He looked at its contents and wrinkled his nose. It was a dark, murky liquid. It was very thick and viscous, too. It didn't look good at all, and Sora had to convince himself that he should be grateful for it.

He slowly sat himself up with Riku's help. He took a small sip of the cup and grimaced over its bitter flavor before somehow managing to swallow the whole thing.

When Sora was finished, Riku asked, "Did Sephiroth and Selphie behave while I was away?"

"Yes, they were just fine," Sora yawned.

Yes, those two were as fine as two gods could be. Sora actually had a good time with them, despite all the staring and all the questions. He was surprised at how comfortable they were making him feel. But he still didn't understand how he got himself into all of this…

"Is there something on your mind, Sora?" Riku asked.

Sora looked at him from the corner of his eye then looked down at his sheets.

"Why?" he asked, relieved that he could ask. "Why did you bring me here? I don't belong…"

"This again? Sora, just be grateful you are here and not back down below, where you would be a pile of ashes by now."

"But I'm in the Gods' Manor, where no human has ever set foot! Not only that, I'm inside the room of the very god I worship! It just boggles the mind, I guess."

"Well, how about I tell you this: you belong to me, now, so you don't have to worry about belonging."

Sora blinked a few times, as if he couldn't understand. Riku, however, just smiled. He took the cup from the boy's hand and set it on the adjacent dresser.

"You were technically being offered to me by your people," Riku explained, lightly patting his head.

Sora swatted Riku's hand away with a blush and looked away. "I find it hard to believe that you are my god."

"Why is that?"

There was a small pause. Sora closed his eyes.

"The picture I used to have in my mind of you was of an adult. You were tall, proud, and great—ever commanding. In fact, I imagined you to be something like my father." At this, Riku wrinkled his nose. Soon, the prince turned more toward him. "But now… you seem like an ordinary boy. And you are too… I don't know, playful! All the things you've done since I've met you are not what people think of when they think of gods! It's infuriating to have my image shattered like this!"

Riku raised his eyebrows for a second and smiled.

"So you don't want me this way? All right, I'll be the way you've pictured me and never be playful again. I won't even smile at you. I can't fulfill the adult part, though; that role will not come out for a few more millennia."

"That's not what I meant!" Sora yelled with a punch to the mattress. "I'm just having a little trouble getting used to the idea of… of you."

"That's interesting. I suppose it is troubling. Your current situation doesn't help, either. You, a prince who has lived his entire life above others, have tried to leave your home to escape a marriage. You tried to be a commoner but soon found yourself in trouble and then found yourself whisked away to a land where few beings will hardly know you exist. Now you have no choice but to play the commoner while I, the one you have worshipped all your life, play your previous role of the prince. My, I can only imagine how you are feeling."

"No, no, I don't care that you are the new prince!" the boy yelled, throwing his arms up to emphasize his point. "It's just that you were always something that was around and yet not. Most of the time when I ever thought about you was while I was in the temple, where there is a big old statue of a great old man. I bowed before it, prayed for good things before it, and participated in every one of the festivities and ceremonies that we celebrated in its honor, only to find out that it has all been a lie."

Sora couldn't stop from feeling frustrated as he glared at the silver haired boy and was fighting the urge to do something foolish—like hitting him with all his might. He then began to feel suddenly woozy as everything he saw began to spin around. He laid a hand on his head to stop, but the feeling wouldn't go away. Luckily, Riku realized what was happening, gathered him in a hug, and helped him lay back down.

"Look, no one has asked you to act any differently than you normally do," Riku murmured, pulling the covers over the boy's body. "And you should be grateful that I am playful and don't look like whatever image you've grown up with. I might not have acted so impulsively at the temple if I was."

Sora let a few quiet minutes go by before whispering softly, "Why didn't you tell me you were a god?"

Riku grinned. "I wanted to have some fun. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Riku…" he said, just barely audibly, ashamed at everything he had done to him. "I thought you were joking when you told me what your name was. You were strange, and I thought so many things about you because of your abilities… It explained why you were being so…"

He was silenced by a finger placed on his lips. Riku had on a wide smile. Sora blushed and looked to the side. Riku laughed at him.

"Sora, you're cute when you're upset!"

The brunet didn't know what to do. What could he do or say to someone like him? It was a very uncomfortable situation.

He blinked when he felt something odd happening in his hair. It was Riku, who was parting the bushy mass to see the hidden bump. Then the bump was gently prodded upon with a finger. Sora suddenly felt embarrassed by the situation.

Riku smiled when he saw that flush spread on the boy's cheeks. He leaned closer to him so that his breath was gently fanning against an ear. A shiver passed through the boy's body.

"Just know that I want to keep you here, Sora," he whispered against that ear. "There is just something about you. I've seen only a few humans in my lifetime, but you are the one who has caught my eye the most. I want you to stay."

"But I—" Sora stopped speaking once again as Riku quieted him by placing his finger on his lips again.

"I don't want to hear any more of this. You'll stay, and that's that. And later on, you'll meet the rest of the gods your people below worship and see them for who they really are, not by the way statues in temples depict them."

Sora was speechless. What could he say? A god—his own god—had just told him to stay. In the Realm of the Gods! This was not what he expected when he had fought with his father about the whole marriage thing. It did put a damper on some things like his wish to find his soul mate, but he supposed that could wait for a while. How could he resist this once in a lifetime chance, anyway?

He squeaked when he felt the bed dip a bit. He stayed completely still when an arm wrapped around his waist. He squirmed to get it off him, but it stayed firm. What the hell was Riku doing?

"Relax…" Riku breathed out sleepily right next to him.

"Riku? What are you doing?" He was blushing horribly at the sudden intimacy of the moment.

A chuckle reached his ears. "Well, my dear boy, because of you, I did not sleep well last night. I want to take a nap. You should, too, what with your injuries and all. Later, if you're feeling better, I will take you to see Marluxia."

Sora wanted to argue, but a wave of sleepiness came over him. He snuggled into the covers, keeping in mind to leave a little space between his body and the god's. He spent his last thoughts trying to figure out who the hell Marluxia might be.

**/1/: Okay, I thought it was obvious, but apparently, someone I know was wondering. I was talking about "Romeo and Juliet" at this part. I guess I just put it there because I need to read "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for homework and had Shakespeare on the brain.**

**Well, here it is. Once again, sorry for the long wait. I hope it was worth it.**

**Damn, there was something else I wanted to say, but I forgot. Oh, well.**

**Also, I will take a while for the next chapter. It's just that I need to finish another fic of mine that just needs one last chapter before being through. Just giving a heads up.**


	5. Surprise Smut Chapter

**A/N: I'm sorry for taking a while on this. This chapter was completed and posted on another website on September 13. I didn't update this on this site because I was trying to push myself to right the final chapter of a fic of mine that has been on hiatus for almost two years. Well, I have a first draft of that chapter all set up and I will probably be updating it on the site next week. Instead of making you all wait so long, I decided to update chapter five today. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, and it will never happen again—for this fic. But yeah. So, here are some of my A/N's from two months ago.**

**Hey, everyone! Sorry for taking so long updating. There are so many excuses I can say for not updating ages ago, most of them none of you will care about. One of those excuses, however, is something you all will care about. I have written chapters 6, 7, and 8 and I have written plans for chapter 9. Mind you all, that doesn't mean that those chapters will be coming over the next few weeks.**

**I had originally meant for this chapter to be set up around Valentine's Day, but by the time I got the first draft done, it was after the day. And then stuff happened… I sent this chapter to my beta a month ago… I was hoping to update on August 21, my birthday, but… yeah… I am incredibly sorry to those of you who thought I abandoned this fic. It's been in my mind just about every day!!!**

**Thanks to all of you who have reviewed. I think there are some people whose replies I haven't replied to. If so, I really appreciated them.**

**Oh, I forgot to mention. In case no one has read the chapter title, this is a Surprise Smut Chapter! I hope you enjoy it very much!**

**This was betaed by Lynn Stardragon. You are wonderful. Also, thanks to 13loves8loves9loves6 for supporting me. Thanks!**

**Without further ado…**

Prince's Hope

Chapter 5: Surprise Smut Chapter

Sephiroth whistled happily down the hall as he made his way to his room. Seeing that human had raised his spirits. There was so much to the boy… So much that neither Sora nor—surprisingly—Riku knew about. Of course, he wasn't going to spoil the surprise for them, so he couldn't wait to see what would happen next; life at the manor had been getting just a little bit boring. Well, aside from all the various times Xemnas tried and failed at taking the throne from him—but that was a normal occurrence since the bastard didn't know when to give up.

Sephiroth frowned in his musings. He wondered why he couldn't just get rid of him, but then he would quickly remember that Xemnas was a god. Not only that but he was also his cousin… There wasn't much Sephiroth could do but keep his cousin in line. He could only hope that the irksome deity would eventually behave well toward Sora. The Head God snickered at the thought: that would be too good to be true. Somehow, he wasn't too worried about it. After all, the boy was—

"Oh, Leon!" came Cloud's breathy voice.

Sephiroth blinked in surprise; he didn't realize he had already reached his room. Wondering what was going on, he placed his ear against the door. He heard what sounded like Leon murmuring something and Cloud agreeing. Hearing the licentious sounds that came next caused Sephiroth to forget about everything he had been thinking of, and he quickly opened the door to be greeted by the beautiful sight of Cloud bent over with his ass held high in the air. He was using his arms to keep himself balanced, but he seemed to be having a hell of a time keeping himself up because Leon was right behind him, lapping enthusiastically up and down the crevice of his ass and occasionally nipping at his cheeks.

The Head God grinned broadly at them and entered the room. Gliding toward them and untying the rope of his robe, he stood at the foot of the bed so he could clearly see how the brunette's tongue was working the blonde over. He watched with amusement how Cloud's puckered opening would clench whenever the pink muscle would go over it, greedy for it to enter.

He let his eyes run over the peculiarly pink rump and over the smooth, glistening back to the matted blond hair. It seemed unusually damp. Curious about how long they had been going at it, Sephiroth moved to the head of the bed and sat on the side of the mattress. He lifted the blonde's head, taking note of the rose-colored cheeks and the lust-filled eyes. They had been romping around for a while, apparently—probably since he left the room.

"Oh, hello, Sephiroth," the blonde lightly panted with a surprised, yet pleased, smile. His eyes caught sight of the silver haired man's rising erection, and he stared at it hungrily.

Sephiroth smirked. "Do you like what you see, little Cloud?"

Cloud nodded. He shifted his weight to one hand and tried reaching for Sephiroth with the other, but the god scooted away from him, his hardness bouncing a bit. Cloud continued to stare at it.

That was when Leon raised his head.

"When did you come back?" Leon asked.

"A few seconds ago," Sephiroth replied, watching Cloud. "I see you've been enjoying yourselves in my absence."

Leon grinned broadly and went down to give Cloud a few licks. The blonde gasped.

"So, is it true? Riku brought over a human?" the brunette asked from his position.

"Yes."

"And how did your brother take the news of having to return this human?"

"He didn't," Sephiroth replied. He idly ran his finger across Cloud's plump lips. He looked down at the top of Leon 's head and continued, "The boy is going to be staying here."

The brunette came back up, his eyes wide.

"That's a surprise," the stormy-eyed god scoffed. He raised a skeptical brow and continued, "He didn't beg you to keep him, did he? We all know how much you love to enable him."

"I do not enable him," Sephiroth argued with a slight frown.

"Oh, yes you do. You let him get away with a lot of things that most others wouldn't," Leon shot back.

Sephiroth opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Leon grinned. He glanced down at Cloud's ass and frowned.

"Hey! Raise that back up!" he barked and slapped the blonde, making a slight imprint of the tips of his fingers on one of those cheeks he had been busy with. Instantly, Cloud lifted his rear higher up and squeaked an apology. Leon nodded in satisfaction and went back to licking. Cloud sighed happily and as they got back to the routine, gasping every now and then. Eventually, he looked up and smiled at Sephiroth.

"So, why did you let this boy stay?" he asked.

"Oh, you'll see why when you meet him," the silver-haired god replied, reaching forward and running his fingers through golden hair.

Cloud pouted. "Whe—hen! Ah!" Sephiroth almost laughed at the reaction as Leon continued to torture his captive with his expert tongue. Sephiroth leaned his torso off the bed until he saw what it was that made Cloud react that way: Leon was laving affection on the blonde's jewels. After getting used to the feeling of that sinister tongue, Cloud continued, "When will we meet him?"

"Soon, my dear Cloud. When Riku deems him fit to come out of his room."

"I see…" Cloud mused. Then he gave Sephiroth a confused look. "What do you mean 'deems him fit to come out of his room'?"

"The boy is bedridden because he was injured in his world. Something about a misunderstanding—I wasn't quite paying attention when I spoke to him."

Cloud nodded, satisfied with the answer. He let his chin rest on his crossed arms, enjoying all of Leon 's actions as he eyed Sephiroth's dick.

Sephiroth, seeing that he was still watching, brought up one of his legs from the side of the bed and propped it up so the blonde could get a more proper view of his robust length. When one golden brow rose at what he did, Sephiroth laid back to rest for a bit—until Cloud suddenly jumped.

Cloud jerked his body around to face Leon, who had one hand on the blonde's behind while the other was preparing him.

"No way, Leon, it's my turn," the upset god complained, swatting the hands away.

Coming around the bed, Leon grabbed a large handful of fair hair, yanked Cloud's head towards his, and crushed both their lips together. Then he let go of the now dazed god and went back to his original position, acting as though nothing had happened.

Sephiroth chuckled and shook his head at his two lovers before going back to resting. As soon as the Head God dropped his guard, though, Cloud grabbed both of the silver man's legs and pulled his lower body closer to him, bringing along that half-hard erection he had been eyeing for a while. He then opened his mouth and took in only the head of the ruler's cock. Cloud's actions were so unexpected to Sephiroth that he cried out and threw his head back when he felt the heat of the wet cavern over his sensitive head.

As Cloud continued pleasuring him, tongue coming into play, Sephiroth heard a loud smack. He looked at Leon and saw that the brunette had a fiendish, almost crazed grin. Leon raised his hand and smacked Cloud again.

"Who said you could do that?" he demanded, raising his hand to repeat the action. "Let go of him!"

The blonde defiantly shook his head at the order and instead took in more of Sephiroth's length. The other god continued to rain blows on the blonde's hindquarters, but with each one, Cloud continued to take more and more of his the ruler's cock. When there was no more left to take, Cloud swallowed and began to moan his resistance, sending vibrations throughout the Head God's body.

Upon hearing Sephiroth's enjoyment, Leon gradually stopped smacking those soft buns. He was disappointment; he really wanted to take control, but since the blonde was pleasuring Sephiroth, all hopes of doing it were dashed—for now. He gently massaged the abused cheeks, causing a sigh to come from the blonde.

As soon as he saw the two relaxing, he smirked to himself, grabbed Cloud's hips and pushed himself in—hard. This, in turn, caused Cloud to yelp, which led to Sephiroth crying out and clutching the blonde's hair.

As soon as he recovered, Cloud stayed still on the bed, loving the feel of Leon moving in and out of him… but he knew it was time to take care of the god in front of him.

The gold deity took hold of the leader by his base, slowly slipping it free from wetted confines. Using the muscles of his palms and dexterous fingers he started the slow and pleasuring torture of fondling his master. So content and enthralled was the Head God with this attention that he let his guard drop further down—in much the same way as he let his head fall back—and was left unaware of what came next.

Cloud grinned, and flicked his tongue over the sensitized head of the engorged phallus. A gasp left the silvery male, and it only encouraged the blonde to act again. He took a quick nip at the side of Sephiroth, before sliding his wet appendage over the abused spot and down the side before trailing back up again. His hand still worked the base; he wished he could use both hands, but he couldn't, lest he fall from the sheer force Leon was using on him.

Back to the top once more, Cloud devoured his lover again, this time bringing teeth into play as he ghosted them over the appreciative male. Now the ruling deity was howling his joy at the experienced play over his body. Rolling his tongue round the impressive length, the blue-eyed blonde pulled back to work the slit for a time, the stormy brunette still holding tight to his fair hips as he slammed his pale body in and out of his warmth.

Sephiroth grinned as he watched both of his lovers. He enjoyed seeing his entire cock entering and leaving that wonderful mouth with every push and pull Leon made, and he thought the brunette was simply beautiful in his almost methodical way of trying to bring the blonde over the edge. Sephiroth never missed the bright blue gleam of Cloud's eye as the blonde used his throat muscles to send him into frenzy. The god was quite pleased with the blonde's efforts, but he soon decided he wanted something else.

When he knew he was about to cum, he quickly pulled himself out of the hot, moist cavern, his cock brushing against teeth before coming out. Cloud whimpered, but the Head God ignored him. Sephiroth made his way around the two until he was directly behind the brown-haired god. He took a few seconds to admire the firm, pumping rump before spreading the cheeks and plunging himself in the hot sheath, taking the chance that the brunette had already been prepared sometime that morning. And his theory was very correct.

Leon, who wasn't quite expecting Sephiroth to take him while he was busy, found himself being shoved deep into the blonde, which caused said blonde to scream loudly in ecstasy. Just as he was about to get his bearings from that little surprise, the brunette heard a sharp, rasped whisper of "Don't let him cum!" in his ears. Obeying his lover, he took a firm hold of his captive's straining cock. He then took a few deep breaths and pulled back, simultaneously pushing back on Sephiroth. He then pushed in to Cloud.

"Leon! Sephiroth!" Cloud sobbed as they went on. "No, don't do this to me."

Soon, Sephiroth took hold of the brunette's hips and took control. He pushed and pulled his hips with dead accuracy, trying to bring Leon over the edge first. His precision was apparent by the responses from the brunette; every time he hit that special spot, the wild brown mane would fly back, hitting his pale chest.

Leon was close, so close. He could feel that Cloud was getting there as well, but he dared not to allow for the blonde's release. With the way Sephiroth was working him over, he wasn't sure if he could take the consequences. So instead, he held on for dear life until he felt his seed erupting out of him. He let out a long, satisfied howl and slumped back a little, still sandwiched between the two gods as Sephiroth continued to push deep inside and hit his prostate.

It wasn't long until Leon felt Sephiroth empty himself into his body and lean forward to rest on his back. Finally, he allowed himself to relax, feeling soft kisses being pressed against his shoulders and two strong arms embracing his torso. He still held Cloud's arousal in a tight grip. When he felt those hands coming up to play with his nipples, he couldn't help but smile.

"Heh, you're very happy," Leon chuckled softly. "What is it about this human that is so special?"

Fingers circled around the areola and tweaked him very hard.

"Ah, but can't you feel the balance in the air? That boy is the one who brought it back after so long… It puts me at such ease…"

"So does that mean you'll want to bring more of them here?" the brunette queried.

Not wanting to answer just yet, the Head God decided to stop the conversation from going any further by raising one hand from Leon's nipple and gently tugging a small handful of the rich mane, causing the stormy-eyed male to turn his head to him. He captured the voluptuous lips that were just dying to be tasted and easily gained entrance between them. He stroked Leon's tongue to life, encouraging a contest for dominance. He could taste a savory tang that he knew belonged to Cloud, and he began to feel drunk over the mixture of flavors from his lovers. He would have lost himself, if not for the delicious sounds the brunette made. But then all too soon, Leon pulled away from the kiss and sighed, his eyes dazed.

"Oh, yes, you are more than happy," he said. "I must know what it is about that human that is making you like this. Should we be worried?"

"Of course not. Sora is to be with Riku."

"With Riku?" Cloud retorted with a turn of his head. Some time during their lovemaking, his arms had completely given up on him and were outstretched before him, so he was making awkward gestures as he continued, "You are not an impostor, are you? Allowing a human to stay here and not seeming to care if he so much as ruts with your brother—your precious, one and only little brother—are things the Sephiroth we know would never do."

"Well," began the Head God, leisurely reaching around Leon 's body and getting closer to the blonde, "how about I introduce you to a Sephiroth that you don't know very well…" With that, he grasped the blonde's cock, still encircled in Leon 's snugly gripping hand, and gave it a squeeze. The fair-headed beauty cried out, bucking forward a bit and impulsively trying to reach his arousal, only to have his hand swatted away. To the brunette, Sephiroth brought his mouth onto the smooth, creamy skin of his nape and sucked as hard as he could to ensure his mark would stay for a while. He was content when Leon began to purr happily. He then kissed the brunette's shoulder as a reward and began to pull out.

"Mmm… I think I like this Sephiroth that I don't know," Leon chuckled, trying to come out of Cloud's high ass but finding he didn't have the strength to.

"Yes" he softly chuckled, "time to see if Cloud likes me, too…"

Sephiroth heard a tiny gasp, followed by an excited moan, come from the blonde, but when he patted the smooth, peachy hip, Cloud tried to scoot away.

"No, no, I like the way you are just fine," Cloud whimpered—but Sephiroth knew he was only playing with him.

So, going along with it, Sephiroth said, "But, Cloud, I insist. I'm sure you'll love what I have in mind."

The Head God finished drawing out of Leon and assisted him out of Cloud, laying the brunette on his side to rest on the bed. He then flipped the blonde over and reveled at the sight. Cloud's legs were splayed out languidly for his master. He was extremely red in the cheek, and his eyelashes were fluttering. His chest was heaving heavily. Sephiroth glanced down at Cloud's straining cock and smiled. It had a fierce scarlet color to it and was jutting out straight up at him. A little bead of pre-cum was dribbling down the side. He growled his approval before pinning Cloud to the bed by sitting on his belly.

Leaning toward him, the god whispered hotly, "You don't know how delicious you look."

"What do you plan on doing to me?" the blonde asked coyly.

Sephiroth only answered with an evil, secretive smile.

A slight movement suddenly caught the god's eye. Cloud's hand was coming down and around to relieve his aching arousal. Sephiroth snorted at the blonde's feeble attempt and captured the wandering appendage and its twin and held them above the golden head. He smiled predatorily at those daring blue eyes and slid up the body until his own cock was mere centimeters away from the mouth. He nearly laughed when those orbs grew upon seeing his length, droplets of his own cum dripping off it. He even saw the tip of the blonde's tongue poke out to wet dry lips.

"Make sure you clean it well," Sephiroth warned before plunging his dick deep into Cloud's mouth.

Though he was expecting it, the blonde still managed to choke on the phallus, but soon he swallowed the whole length and licked off the delicious nectar—and did nothing else. Sephiroth thrust his hips a few times, hoping to have those throat muscles working on him again. When Cloud coughed a bit, he smirked and began to slip off the rope from his robe. With it, he tied the two hands to the bedpost tight enough to keep him from even accidentally getting free, all the while thrusting a few more times to keep the blonde on edge.

He hissed in ecstasy when he felt the god's teeth come into play. It was exhilarating, how they ghosted over his cock, how they sent thrills over him. It was enough to reawaken him, make him ready to take Cloud where he lay.

He looked down at Cloud to see how he was doing. The blonde was fully enjoying himself, his eyes completely closed and head bobbing just a bit. From time to time, he would moan around the length and send even more shocks to Sephiroth's system. The silver one was very pleased, so he trusted a few more times and petted golden locks. The blonde's eyes soon opened, and Sephiroth saw pleasure swimming through the depths. The voracious gaze he set on Sephiroth's own eyes was enough to excite the Head God.

Sephiroth hastily pulled out of the blonde, pleased to see him trying to follow his cock so that he could pleasure him even more. As soon as it was out of reach, Cloud whimpered at the loss, and Sephiroth chuckled at him. His sweet little Cloud was always trying to please. Now it was Sephiroth's turn.

Slipping off his robe and tossing it somewhere in the room, Sephiroth came back down Cloud's body, keeping complete eye contact with him. Cloud was so needy, so close. Sephiroth knew it, and he did not regret making him this way. In fact, he loved having a needy Cloud: he was much more erotic and wanton at this point.

Finally, he was there. Taking hold of sinewy legs, Sephiroth tossed them over his shoulders before spreading the nicely pink buns He snickered a bit at seeing the remnants of Leon's semen leaking right out from the entrance he revealed. With a finger, he flicked up a small bit of it and popped the finger in his mouth. He bathed the tip of his finger with his saliva and began pulling it in and out until he heard a sob come from the blonde.

"Sephiroth, no more. Just… just fuck me! Now! I need to—"

Cloud couldn't finish his sentence, for Sephiroth was now holding his lips captive.

He welcomed the distraction but was becoming eager to feel full again. Sensing this, the Head God pulled away from him and took aim, knowing full well that Cloud didn't need any preparation. He wasted no time in penetrating Cloud with one sure thrust.

The blonde cried out, wantonly arching his hips to meet Sephiroth's and instinctively pulling his arms down to grab at the sheets below, only to be thwarted by the rope. In one smooth in and out motion, he felt the length hit him square on. Seeing his god's chest just above his face, the blonde showed him his appreciation by raising his own torso and locking on to a nipple. He sucked and nipped on the stiff peak enthusiastically, as though it held the only source of nourishment he would ever have.

Sephiroth returned the favor in kind by taking the silky hips and hitting that bundle of nerves deep within the blonde over and over again. Cloud cried, trying to yank at his bindings. All it brought was a slight burn to his wrists.

Leon, who was watching from the side of the bed, was becoming quite aroused at watching these two beauties fucking each other silly. And even though he felt like touching himself in time to their rhythm, he decided to do something else. Something for them. He looked around for the lubricant he and Cloud had used sometime ago, but he couldn't see it. Not caring about it anymore, he began to lick and suck a few fingers of one hand while he leaned his body forward and reached out to Cloud with the other.

A hand was worming its way between their two bodies. Sephiroth knew it was Leon's trying to help Cloud reach his climax. Cloud choked out a sigh of relief when his arousal was encased, and he threw his head back in passion once again when it was furiously being pumped. His wrists were hurting because of the rope, but he was beginning to find it easy to ignore.

Sephiroth continued on, feeding the gluttonous hole. He could feel how close the blonde was to cumming by the way Cloud's passage would fervently grip him. His focus was on getting Cloud to release first. Then very unexpectedly, he felt a long, slick finger prodding its way between his own cheeks until it found his entrance. The finger slipped through and began mimicking his movements. Another soon made itself known and then another, all continuing the motion. They were bringing him closer to the edge until…

"Ah! Seph! Sephiroth—Oh, Leon!"

The powerful clenching of Cloud's inner muscles and the pleasuring fingers were all too much for the god. With one last push of his hips, he buried himself deep into the snug little hole and shouted his relief, bursting his seed into his lover. It was an incredible orgasm, one that sent him to euphoric heights.

As he came back to reality, he found that he was lying on his side, an arm tossed over Cloud's chest, just above the tiny puddle of Cloud's seed. Leon was on his other side, trying to untie the blonde from the bedpost. Once that was done, the both of them tiredly embraced their ruler. Sephiroth nestled himself between their two warm bodies, relishing in the soft touches. He smiled as he watched his lovers raise themselves to share an intimate kiss. Then the two rested their tired heads on the bed, the brunette allowing his arm to wander down Sephiroth's torso.

"Oh my god," Leon sighed, tracing little spirals on the Head God's belly.

"That was amazing," Cloud added, massaging his slightly sore wrists. "We haven't had anything like that in a long time."

"So all of that was because of some balance?" Leon asked. He leaned over the silver god to lick away some of the cum on Cloud's belly. When he finished, he snuggled against the Head God and continued, "What is it about this Sora that made you release all that tension?"

Sephiroth gave a great yawn. "I'll tell you later. For now, I must rest." He raked his eyes over Cloud's body, thinking of all the things he planned on doing to him later on. When he pushed back against Leon while musing, he noticed that the god still had a bit of an erection. "In the mean time," he continued, "I believe it is Cloud's turn to have his way with you, Leon. So have at it, Cloud. Entertain me."

Cloud raised his head and gave Leon a wicked little smile before reaching for the rope…

**A/N: So, I hope you all enjoyed this. I don't have much else to say, so goodbye until the next, hopefully soon, chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Ohayo, minna-san! Well, chapter 6 is done! (Finally.) I don't know how it happened, but I've been working on this chapter for over a year. See, this was the original chapter 5 before the smut idea came to me. Tee hee… *sweatdrops* When I look at this chapter, though, I think about how much this chapter looks almost nothing like the original chapter… I'm serious; I've torn this thing up! The only thing that's really the same is the whole part in the beginning with Selphie and Demyx!! I even put in a part from chapter 7 on here, too. Oh, I've done so much to this chapter…**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and to those of you who read this. I love you all!**

**This chapter has been beta-ed by 13loves8loves9loves6. Thank you so much; you've stopped me from going into a nervous breakdown for the Holidays.**

**Okay, enough of my rambles. Hope you enjoy chapter 6!**

**~Chapter 6~**

Sora was beginning to get restless. He knew something was off and that it had to do with his bedmate, Riku, who had managed to spoon himself against the ex-prince. Vaguely, he wondered how they had gotten in that position, but that wasn't what was bothering him. There was something pokinghim from between their bodies. He just couldn't put his finger on what it was, and his sleepy mind wasn't helping him at all.

Before he could try to figure out what it was, he heard whispers coming from a distance. They were coming closer until they stopped just outside the room. Sora decided to listen; maybe the conversation would lull him back to sleep and get him to forget about the poking thing.

"But I want to see it!" one of the voices whined.

"It's not an 'it'; it's a 'he'," came another, more amused voice. It was familiar… it sounded like Selphie. "And anyway, Demyx," she continued, "he and Riku are asleep."

Demyx, Demyx… Demyx was the Water God, wasn't he? That was someone Sora had been eager to meet ever since he found out he was in the god world. Back home, Demyx was known to be mischievous. Sora wondered if he was anything like the legends say…

Sora found himself waking up a bit, though still staying in a half-asleep state, to hear the conversation.

"Let me see him!" pleaded Demyx. "Just for a minute; I promise I'll be quiet!"

"No. You'll have your chance to meet him when Riku lets him out." There was a pause, but then the goddess's tone became mischievous as she added, "_If_ he lets him out."

The Water God sounded surprised as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, Demy, you should have seen him fussing over Sora! He even fought with Xemy and bitched him out because ol' tall, Dark, and silver didn't want him around!" Her tone changed into a dreamy one. "And then the way he was being so sweet when Sora woke! Demyx, it was—it was so cute that I just wanted to give them a nudge in 'that' direction!"

"Why don't you do it, then?" Demyx asked, with mischief in his voice. "It could be lots of fun."

Sora's eyes grew wide with wonder. What did the Water God mean? Surely he wasn't trying to get the Love Goddess to play matchmaker with them. No, Selphie wouldn't do something like that… would she?

"You know, I did consider it," Selphie mused. "I even wondered who would be more outraged at the thought of them together: dear Sephiroth or mean Xemy." There was a dramatic sigh. "Alas, my power is not one to be toyed with, especially with matters of the gods. Not like you and your water."

The Water God sounded innocent when he defended, "Hey, I don't toy around with water."

Selphie scoffed, "Of course you don't."

The half-asleep Sora was now listening to the two so intently that he almost missed the yawn that came from behind him. Then there was a very faint murmuring. It sounded like Riku was saying Sora's name. The ex-prince's brain went on full alert as his god's body fully pressed against his a little more before relaxing. Then the god murmured some more things, tightened his hold on the human, and finally settled down. And all through that, Sora still couldn't quite figure out what it was that was poking his backside. Ugh, the cloud of sleep was still ruling over his mind.

While he pondered over it some more, the talking stopped, and some sweet, flowing music that almost sounded like a lullaby filled the air, which caused the god to mumble before tossing an arm about the boy's waist and pulling him closer to his body. Sora's eyes widened when his mind sort of "clicked" as he suddenly realized what was "off"—and he hoped he was wrong about it.

He immediately opened his eyes, but before he could make absolute sure of his fears, the door slowly opened, and the music continued playing. Through eyes that quickly closed to slits, Sora was able to see Selphie come in, looking slightly peeved, with a glass in her hand. There was a strange blob that seemed to be lifting itself out of said glass swaying, almost dancingto the music. At the door stood who he assumed was Demyx. The god was approaching the bed, his head moving to the lullaby and his eyes closed in slight concentration as he supplied the sweet music from a large instrument that looked like a sitar.

As he finished playing, the Water God slowly opened his eyes. The blob stopped moving and plopped back into Selphie's glass, some of it splashing out. Selphie just looked annoyed about the whole thing.

"Was it really necessary to do that?" she ground out.

"Sorry, Selphie," Demyx said with a shrug. "Water can't help itself when I play."

Selphie shot him a glare. "Yes, but why did you have to play _now_ when you know I hate it when that happens to _my_ water?"

"Because the music helps Riku fall deeper asleep," the Water God answered with a pout.

Selphie sighed and slapped her head. Teeth gritted, she gave the glass to Demyx, saying, "I can't drink this anymore; you made it _alive_."

Demyx shrugged, drank what was left in the glass, and handed it back to her. Then he quickly made his way across the room and sat next to the side of the bed Sora was facing, holding his sitar upright beside him.

Through the slight visibility his closed eyes allowed, Sora could see a definite gleam of excitement in this eternal being's eyes. He brought a finger close to Sora's face and gently poked his nose. Sora unintentionally wrinkled his nose and tried to move back. Unfortunately, he became reacquainted with the poking thing, so he tried to squirm away from it.

Demyx squealed with delight at the boy's actions, "He's so cute!"

Selphie came up and rested the hand that wasn't occupied by the glass on the god's shoulder, smiling fondly at Sora. "I know. And his hair is so soft and fluffy-looking—makes you want to touch it."

"Yeah…" Demyx giggled and reached out with his unoccupied hand to do just that.

Selphie slapped the hand away, a scowl forming on her lips as she shook her head in warning. She took the Water God's arm and pulled, saying, "Come on, let's leave him to rest."

"No! I'm jealous now," Demyx stated with a pout as he yanked his arm back. "I've brought so many things up from all the lower worlds over the last few centuries, and all of them were rejected by Sephy—even a baby fish!" He turned toward the goddess and showed her his index finger and thumb spread apart by about an inch as he continued, "A tiny, little, baby _fish_! He said that unless I wanted to mate with it in the future, then I had better return it. But when dear Riku brings home a human—which is even _bigger_ and probably more _troublesome_ than a baby _fish_—he gets to keep him! Riku always gets the good stuff!" The Water God turned back towards Sora, crossing his arms and pouting. "It must be great being Sephiroth's brother because it sure isn't fun being his uncle!"

"He barely even sees you as his uncle," Selphie laughed. "You are younger than Riku, after all."

"By only half a century," Demyx insisted. The god shook his head with a sigh and pulled the sitar down so he could strum a few chords. He looked at Sora with jealous eyes, and he seemed to be thinking about something as he played. He leaned in closer to the boy, which caused Sora to almost want to move back again. Then he plucked a few more strings and pulled away from the human, stopping the music and mused aloud, "Let's steal him."

The Love Goddess, who had been idly looking at the glass in her hand, looked at the Water God in confusion. "What?"

"Steal the human. I want my revenge on Riku."

That surprised Sora. He didn't expect the god to say such a thing… but he didn't want to be stolen. To show that, he moved closer to Riku, but once again, he felt that thing… Finally fed up with the mystery behind it, he ever so slowly, so as not to draw attention, began to reach back with his hand, paying attention to the deities before him.

He saw Selphie kneel next to Demyx and cup the god's face with a hand.

"Listen to me," she hissed. "Sephiroth has a reason for letting Sora stay here. I don't know what it is, but I can tell it's something big. It is _not_ because he favors Riku over his little uncle."

Sora could have laughed at the face Demyx made at being called "little uncle". It made him look more like a child. But soon the Water God's face broke into a smile of realization.

"You want him to stay here, too," he smirked. The smile became wider, and he began to play his instrument again. "What is it about? You're not in some scheme with Sephiroth, are you? Or maybe…" The tempo of the music picked up a notch. "Maybe it's because you fancy this little one, as well?"

Selphie raised her unoccupied hand and thwapped the Water God over the head with it.

"Idiot," she scoffed, "I just don't feel like bothering the poor boy right now." She shook her head in embarrassment and stood to walk away. Then she suddenly tripped over something. She looked back and blinked a few times before looking down at whatever it was that had decided to tangle itself around her feet. She quirked a brow. "Sora's clothes?"

Sora quietly gasped. He was naked? He had no clue! How the hell hadn't he noticed?!

And that was when the prince's hand brushed against the thing that he feared was poking him: Riku's clothed erection. A light blush made its way to the boy's cheeks, and Sora slowly began to panic. Bringing his hand back, he tried to calm himself by taking comfort in the fact that the Earth God still had pants on.

Meanwhile, Demyx gasped, "No way! But it doesn't _feel_ like they've had a romp around the room. We'd definitely be able to tell since Riku's still a virgin…" An almost maniacal grin appeared on his face. "There's only one way to be sure!"

Suddenly, the blanket came off, and the truth was finally revealed to the two gods. The boy was naked in bed. Right behind him, a half-naked Riku was spooned against him, his erection at Sora's backside. The prince shook, but whether it was because he was embarrassed or because of the chill that he now felt, he couldn't be sure.

"Wow," Demyx whistled. "Not too shabby for a human. My Luxord is better, though**.****/1/**Now let's take a look at my nephew…"

"Demyx!" Selphie hissed.

The water deity leaned forward for a closer look and gasped. "Shit, Riku's not bad, either, even if he is covered up. I've never seen it like that before…" An evil grin came up on his face and he snickered, "Heh, wonder what he's dreaming about…"

"Just put the blanket over them, and let's get going!" the goddess urged behind him, panicked. She was biting her lip and looking nervously between the two in bed and the door.

Demyx snorted at her and said, "Relax, Selph, I don't think they've done anything."

Selphie growled and placed her glass on the floor. She took the blanket and covered Sora and Riku. Demyx glared at her and pulled it back. She pulled it up. Then Demyx gently put his instrument on the ground, stood up, and pulled the blanket back. Then they began to fight over the blanket. The flapping of the blanket being jerked around caused a slight breeze to come over the bed, and Sora couldn't help but shiver even more. And then the unimaginable happened. Riku shivered as well and pulled Sora even closer to him. Then he moved his leg right over Sora's, causing his private self to slip into Sora's crevice ever so slightly. Sora couldn't help but whimper at his predicament as the Earth God nuzzled him. The human closed his eyes tightly, his cheeks turning red.

"Whoa ho! _Now_ I know why Riku gets to keep him," Demyx snickered.

"Demyx, let them have their privacy," came Selphie, who was sounding quite flustered as she tried to cover the boys with the blanket.

"Hell, no!" Demyx cackled, pulling the blanket back again. "This is quite a show. Look at the human's face! I swear he must be a virgin or something! Well, if they haven't done anything before, I know they will be up to stuff soon!"

Sora couldn't take it! He was going to scream! But at the same time, he was feeling a strange, incredible urge to push his hips back into Riku. He didn't know what to do!

"Give me that damned sitar!" Selphie suddenly screeched, pulling Sora away from his predicament.

"What are you doing to my baby?!" Demyx shrieked as the goddess took hold of the instrument.

The instrument was held high in the air before it was swung in a long arc and slammed on the top of Demyx's head. The god collapsed on the ground, and the goddess quickly covered the boys up. Placing first the sitar and then her empty glass on the Water God's stomach, she dragged Demyx out of the room and gently shut the door.

Sora let out a loud cry of relief when he was sure they were far away and quickly ripped Riku's arms away from his midsection. Then he took the blanket and secured it around his waist before scramblingoff the bed. He heard Riku stirring, and he looked up to see a sleepy Earth God looking down at him with confusion.

"Did I push you off?" the god mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

Sora blinked incredulously at Riku for deciding to wake up at that moment. A second later, he remembered his nakedness. His body trembled with the effort to calm himself from the embarrassing experience he was having—and he had thought that kissing the god was bad!

"Why am I naked?!" he shouted.

Riku cringed at the loud voice. He then simply answered, "Because I took off your clothes while you were asleep."

"But why?!"

The young god shrugged, lying back on the bed. "I was holding you in my sleep because you were warm." He turned his head toward the remains of Sora's clothing and glared accusingly at them. "Unfortunately, my arms became tangled in those shreds that you call 'clothes'." He looked back at Sora and continued, "So I took the liberty of taking them off."

"Are you mad?" Sora blurted, stunned by such an explanation. "Why didn't you give me new clothes?"

Riku shrugged. "I was too tired." He then sat up and moved closer to the edge of the bed, eyes moving up and down the human's body. He curiously cocked his head to the side when Sora suddenly scowled and covered his torso, so he asked, "Sora, is it customary for humans to be embarrassed by their naked bodies? Because I've already seen yours, and you have nothing to be ashamed about."

Sora just slapped his forehead and massaged his temples. Then he stopped the action, remembering that it was a habit of his father's, and settled for glaring at the silver haired boy on the bed. But then he found his eyes lingering on the god's body. He had never wondered about how a god's body looked, but… With that strong chest and those dusky pink nipples, Sora couldn't help but stare at him. And from what he had felt, Riku's cock was nice, too…

Blushing at his thoughts, the ex-prince hissed, "I had no clue gods could be such molesters!"

"Some are more than just that," the silver one mused in amusement. Then he yawned and looked at the brunette's frightened eyes. "I am not one of them, though," he quickly assured, "because I've only just come of age to…" Sora now had a wary look on his face, so the god continued, "I'm serious! And you don't have to worry about anyone else; I made sure to send out a warning to everyone not to bother you."

Sora only scowled and murmured to himself as he fixed the blanket around his lower section more, "But who is going to warn you against me?"

"What did you say?" Riku asked.

"I was wondering where you kept your clothes," the prince quickly substituted with a smile that was too big.

Riku didn't miss the smile, but he ignored it and pointed to the dresser next to the bed. "There are some in there, if you'd like; I don't think I have anything that would fit you, though. We can tell the moogles to make some later."

Sora went straight to the dresser. He quickly found some clothes and put them on as quickly as he could, making sure to cover himself with the blanket as much as he could. Then he threw it at Riku. He looked over to his ripped up clothes, upset with their state.

"Wait, Sora, come here," Riku suddenly said, sitting up in bed.

The prince eyed the god warily. "Why?"

"There's something different about you. I can't put my finger on it, though."

Obediently, albeit reluctantly, Sora did as he was told. Riku held him still by the shoulders and looked him up and down. He brought one of the tan arms close to his face, trying to get a better view. Then the god put it down, raised one of his own fingers, and brought it to the boy's cheek, pressing firmly on it until Sora pushed it away. Riku's eyes grew wide, and he pulled Sora's head down and ran his fingers through the brown locks, massaging the scalp a bit in his search for something. Finally, he let go of the head, took hold of the boy's shirt, and bared a lightly tanned chest before him.

This made Sora yell, and the boy smacked Riku's hands away before those hands could touch his skin.

"What the hell are trying to do?" Sora yelled, fixing the shirt back down.

"You've healed quite nicely," Riku remarked, ignoring the question. "There is not even a smudge of color from where you've been bruised, and even the bump on your head is gone. Marluxia's medicine worked better than I expected."

Sora looked down on himself and saw that it was true. He felt no pain anywhere on his body, and his headache had been gone a long time. It must have been the remedy Riku had given him.

He smiled at the god and said, "Thank you, Riku."

"For what?" Riku asked curiously.

Sora sat next to him. "Well, you've done so much for me over the last two days, and I have no way of repaying you."

"Well, then, you're welcome," Riku replied with a smile.

The prince smiled back and stared at his legs. He began moving them back and forth, trying to figure out what else to say. From under brown locks, his blue eyes peeked back at aquamarine, and he asked, "Is there something you'd like me to do in return? I feel that I should since you are a god and deserve the utmost respect…"

The agrarian god stayed quiet for a few seconds, only rubbing his chin with a hand. Then he turned his head and studied the boy. His eyes rested on the prince's lips. Then he thought back to the night before. The kiss they shared… how wonderful it was.

He felt a strong attraction to the prince, he knew. He also felt that there was something he wanted, something that he needed from him. Asking for a repeat of their dungeon performance would be the first step to figuring out what it was…

"I suppose there is one thing I'd like for you to do… or rather, what I'd like to do with you…"

A smile crept onto the god's face as he turned his body so that he was completely facing Sora. He reached forward and captured the boy's chin with his fingertips, going on instinct and what he remembered seeing his brother do with Cloud and Leon. He ran his thumb across the bottom lip, knowing that he would love to taste it once again.

Sora's eyes widened, but he didn't push those fingers away. Somehow, letting himself drown in those eyes seemed like the best thing for him to do. He was getting a strange tickly feeling in his stomach, but he liked it. He almost didn't notice that the deity's pale face was coming closer and closer to his…

Smack! Riku's pretty little face now had a bright red handprint on the left cheek. Sora was surprised he hit him; it was all a reflex. He didn't really mean to do it. He was about to apologize for it, but Riku turned to him with such an adorable pout that the apology was all but forgotten as he began to laugh at the open-mouthed god.

"What was that for?!" Riku whined, massaging his cheek. "All I wanted was a kiss!"

"You should have said something!" Sora giggled.

"I thought it was obvious!" As soon as he felt better, the god took the prince by the shoulders and pulled him up close. At Sora's tiny gasp, he smiled in a sultry way and asked, "Now, are you going to give me what I want?"

Slipping Riku's hands off, Sora managed to calm himself enough to say, "No."

"What? Why not?"

Sora blushed a bit and moved to sit at the end of the bed before answering, "Since you stole my first, I am saving my second kiss for my special someone."

"What special someone?" Riku asked, cocking his head to the side.

"My soul mate, remember?"

Riku looked up at the ceiling and tapped his chin with his finger.

"So a soul mate is someone special? Am I not someone special?"

Sora laughed out loud.

"That's not what I mean, Riku. I mean, yes, you are special, but not in the sense that I'm talking about. Having a soul mate is having a lover. And this lover is special, more special than anyone else one would ever meet. And the love between a person and their soul mate is powerful—it knows no bounds. It's the truest of loves. My father used to say that it's just a fantasy, but…" Sora looked at Riku and realized that he was beginning to ramble. He scratched his head and sighed. "I'm sorry, but do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Riku tapped his chin again. "Maybe… Is it possible to have more than one soul mate?"

Sora blinked, not sure where the conversation was going. "I don't know. Why?"

Riku grinned. "Because I think my brother has two of them."

"Really? How do you know they are the ones for him?"

Riku looked up at the ceiling and said thoughtfully, "Well, they have a deep relationship with one another. My brother is a lot happier now than before he came together with them…" He turned back to Sora. "Do I have a soul mate, Sora? How will I know when I've found my special someone?"

"Hmm… I don't know…" Sora cocked his head to the side in thought. "My mother used to tell me that you feel strangely different around them. There's supposed to be a tingly feeling inside when you think about them, and you're just happy knowing that they're around."

Riku scratched his head in confusion. "Does that make you my soul mate, then? Because I feel all those things whenever I'm around you."

Sora blushed and chuckled sheepishly. "I don't think so. You may be mistaking those feelings; I think you feel that way about me because every time we see each other, I'm in some precarious situation. And as I said, love would have to be shared between the two of us."

"So… you don't love me?"

Sora felt himself panic at how the tone in the god's voice sounded… so sad. And it was making him feel so guilty about it. Before he knew it, he was bowing before his god and uttering out apologies. Then Riku began to laugh uncontrollably, holding on to his sides.

"You've got to stop doing that! You look like a fool!" he laughed.

"A fool?"

Riku beamed at him and reached out to ruffle Sora's brown hair.

"I'm sure you'll stop in due time," he teased as he stood and held out a hand. "Now come on; it's time to see Marluxia."

Sora, shaking his head, took the hand and stood. He took a last peek at the godly body and said, "All right. As soon as you cover yourself."

Riku pouted, but he turned to his dresser to do just that.

**~Over by Roxas and Axel…~**

It had been some time since they shared their little moment. Since then, they had settled for some cuddling before Roxas fell asleep. Roxas was never called for anything important, and Axel wasn't needed for anything. And even though he wasn't supposed to be with his love, Axel still stayed in the room with him. He enjoyed watching the little prince curled up in a ball with a small arm around a slim hip and his head on the knight's stomach, blonde hair tickling his naked skin. What's more, he adored hearing the little one snore, though Axel would never tell him that… Although, sometimes he wondered if he should; Roxas was so cute whenever he was embarrassed.

Oh, but how he wished he could ravish the boy. Now would be the perfect time, what with all the commotion going on. But they would have to do it here instead of one of the less used rooms in the castle… The prince couldn't go missing before it was time to go. And he didn't want to be caught doing something he shouldn't. Although… this could also count as something he shouldn't do… Not that he would care too much. But Roxas might.

Axel sighed at his problem.

Still, the redhead was happy just sitting on his bed and watching his beloved while gently combing his fingers through blonde locks. He wondered what it was that the prince was dreaming of.

A soft knock sounded through the room, and Axel called for whomever it was to come in. Kairi's head poked through the door before she entered and walked toward the bed. She blushed at the knight's naked chest before she looked at the blonde prince and smiled.

"He looks so cute when he's asleep," she cooed softly.

Letting a finger trace over his lover's face, the knight asked, "Are you sure it's Roxas you are speaking of, Princess?"

The princess blinked and then blushed in embarrassment.

"Sometimes I hate that they are identical…"

"Save for the hair, of course." Axel smirked and smoothed out his love's spikes. "And their personalities. I love this feisty little thing." He brought an arm under the prince's and gave a sort of hug to prove his point. He leaned over to nuzzle the spiky hair and smiled as he felt the prince snuggle up against him. With one cat-like green eye, he peeked up at the princess and playfully growled, "Mine!"

Kairi giggled at the knight's display of affection. Then her eyes glanced off to the side, as though she were in thought. She frowned slightly and twiddled her fingers about. Axel rolled his eyes, knowing what was wrong. Feigning ignorance, he asked, "So what's on your mind, your highness?"

She twiddled her fingers for a little bit longer before she seemed to come to a decision over something. Then it looked as though she lost her nerve. Finally, the girl sighed. "Well, I could only get some people to join us on our quest. Most of them were too busy, and then there are only so many that I actually know and can talk to… These knights were the best I could get." She shook her head and looked up at him more confidently. "Anyway, we'll be leaving tonight. The sooner the better, after all."

Axel lifted his head just a bit, his eyes looking at her all-knowingly. "Am I correct in assuming that the king did _not_ give you permission to go, and that's why we're leaving tonight instead of, say, tomorrow morning?"

From where he sat, he could see the princess's ears turn pink. Axel smiled wryly.

"No, he was very much against it," she sighed in despair. Then her eyes glistened with determination. "But this is something that must be done."

"Just like Sora's leaving was something that had to be done?" The question caught the girl off guard, and she glared at him. The knight shrugged and looked down at his prince, gently running a hand down the blonde's cheek. "I think it's actually good that Riku took him."

"How is it good?" Kairi snapped. "It's terrible—for both the kingdom and for me! He is the heir to the throne and my fiancé! I kept telling myself that his need to leave was all in his head, just a fantasy that he longed to play out, but now that…" She stopped and growled. "Nothing good can come of this, Axel!"

Axel sighed and shook his head, reclining on the bed and putting his hands behind his head. "You're wrong. It's a change of pace from regular life. Nothing this exciting has happened in a while. Besides, this is the work of a god; there isn't much we can do as mere mortals."

"But I miss him!"

Axel shrugged and asked,"Well, if you're missing him, would you like to know what I do when I'm missing my little Roxy?"

Kairi stomped her foot angrily. "Don't change the subject, Axel! What if something bad happens to him?"

"I don't think anything will happen to him. What is the use of a god taking someone from our world just to hurt him? It would be much easier—and maybe even more amusing—to hurt an entire kingdom of people. Trust me, Riku's not the kind of god to do that; I know him in ways that you don't. Sora is perfectly safe."

Kairi wrinkled her nose and pouted. "I still don't like that this all happened. That's why I'm going. I would rather die than stay waiting to get married to someone I do not get along with while Riku does gods know what to the one I love! No one is going to stop me—not even you."

Axel thoughtfully brushed the back of his fingers against Roxas's cheek and looked up at the princess. "I'm not trying to stop you, Princess. On the contrary: I want to make sure you've thought things through, that you're positive you want to do this and that you know the risks."

"I do. I've never been more certain of anything." Her face was serious, her midnight eyes full of determination.

The knight grinned and let his hand rest on his lover's side. "Good because if you had said otherwise, I would have gone straight to the king about this." His eyes suddenly grew wide as though something just crossed his mind. "Who else were you able to get to join us?"

The redheaded girl seemed surprised by the question but still answered, "I was able to get Lexaeus, but he said he would convince Zexion to come along, as well. Why do you ask?"

Axel was relieved. "Don't ask any more people. It's good that we have a small group. It's even better that we can bring Lex and Zex along for the ride; those two are the finest knights in the kingdom—next to me, of course." He winked teasingly at the other redhead.

Kairi laughed, happy that her plan was coming together. "Okay. That's wonderful. Then I'll get ready for the journey." She quietly clapped her hands together as she began to leave. Before she reached the door, she turned back and said, "Oh, and Axel, I told Lexaeus that we would meet in the wine cellar in a few hours to plan out our escape. So if you'd just let Roxas know…"

The knight nodded. "Will do, Princess."

Kairi smiled excitedly and left. Axel shook his head at the princess before he looked down at the noble on his lap, the corner of his mouth coming up wryly.

"You can stop pretending to be asleep, love," he said. He heard the prince sigh deeply and saw a blue eye open halfway. A pout was gracing those succulent lips, and Axel had to control himself to not lean over and kiss them. Instead, he chuckled and asked,"How long have you been awake?"

"'Are you sure it's Roxas you are speaking of?'" Roxas repeated with a yawn. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Do we really have to go?" He tried to pout again as he asked, "Do _I_ have to go?"

Axel reached out to ruffle the hair and answered, "Yes, you do. You're not weaseling out of it. Besides, as her temporary servant, Kairi never really gave you a choice of whether or not to go. And I have to go because I can't very well let her go on such a quest with you, Lexy, and Zexy as her escorts."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Roxas demanded, pretending to be offended.

"Well, you sometimes have homicidal thoughts towards her," the knight explained. "With Zexion, I hear that he's gotten depressed because of what happened yesterday; he's always been proud of that nose of his, so his mistake with Sora must be devastating him. That means Lexaeus will be busy consoling him along the way."

Roxas slapped his forehead and groaned in exasperation, "But if you come along, then Kairi might as well go all alone!"

"What do you mean?" Axel asked.

The blonde narrowed his eyes, trying to look sexy as he reached out to circle and tweak one of the redhead's nipples. "Because you know I'll be all over you and your ass out in the country." He then snickered evilly. "And no one will be able to do anything about it!"

"Oh!" Axel gasped dramatically. He wrapped his arms around his torso and turned his body away to protect himself. He batted his eyes coyly and cried,"Then I shall abstain!"

"Not for long," the prince said in a sinister voice. He crawled up the redhead's body, his leg carefully going over the long, sinewy legs to straddle the knight.

"You brute!" Axel cried, though he couldn't keep the smile off his face. He knew he told himself he wasn't going to do anything, but watching and feeling the prince go hard was exciting him. Well, as Roxas said: fuck the bet. Or rather, fuck the prince. Axel suddenly stopped his musings when he realized something. "Why the hell are you on top again?"

Roxas only curled his lips backin an evil smile and dove in for Axel's neck. The knight was having a difficult time trying to control his need, but it was a losing battle. Need finally won, so he grabbed the smaller hips and switched with the boy.

"Not today, little one," he growled, and he nuzzled the soft hair. He breathed in the scent of his lover and sighed, "Now this, I like."

Unbeknownst to Axel, Roxas was grinning triumphantly at finally getting some action. When Axel came up with lust-glazed eyes, the prince raised his body and locked lips with the redheaded knight. A breathy moan was his response.

Before their little play could go on any further, the door suddenly slammed open, and a voice yelled, "Get off him!"

The knight cursed under his breath and scrambled to the side of the bed. The prince, however, folded his arms and frowned.

"I could have sworn we had a discussion some time ago about knocking before entering my room," he mumbled. Leave it to the king to interrupt them when he was already incredibly horny…

"Fraternizing with Sir Axel! You should be ashamed of yourself, Roxas," the king admonished. He ran a hand down his slightly wrinkled face and muttered to himself, "I never thought Kairi's words about your virginity may be true!"

The prince turned to Axel and gave him an evilly satisfied grin. The knight, however, flushed a bright red all over and tried looking for his shirt. As soon as he found it, Axel leaned forward to pick it up and put it on. Then he quickly left the room, stopping just long enough to bow before his king. Roxas blew him a kiss and waved a hand at the closing door.

As soon as the door was shut, the king stepped closer to his son and barked, "What was that?"

Normally, Roxas would regard his father with the utmost respect, but the prince was a little cranky at having his fun interrupted, so he spitefully replied, "What was what, Father?"

The noble man glared at his son. "You know what I am referring to. What were you about to do with Sir Axel?"

Roxas broke out into an almost lecherous smile as he answered, "But I was doing nothing wrong, Father. Axel was only showing me how to…" the smile broadened as he continued, "…make a person bend to my will. He was doing it by showing me how touching people in just the right places and in just the right ways can make them utterly… helpless…"

The king didn't miss the smile. He had to breathe deeply to calm himself before growling, "How can you do this in lieu of your punishment? How can you do this to Kairi, now that the two of you are betrothed?"

Roxas sat up and put his feet on the side of the bed. Rocking them back and forth, he argued, "Father, I almost can't believe it has taken you two years to find out we were making love."

Steely gray eyes widened at his son's words, and his fists clenched tightly. "I've always hated your 'relationship' with that knight. I always hoped that you would eventually come to your senses and find a noble woman to have children with."

"I'm sorry, Father, but I plan on being with Axel forever," the prince stated firmly.

"Roxas…" the king growled warningly, slowly approaching his son.

Roxas threw his hands up in exasperation. "Well, why the hell do I have to marry Kairi? Just because I am Sora's twin does not mean that I am his substitute."

"But being second-born in the family does!" his father snapped.

Roxas clenched his fists angrily and asked, "But would her family even agree to this? The news of what's been going on here will not even reach the Light Kingdom for a fortnight! Has it ever occurred to you that maybe neither Kairi nor I want this? Or that maybe Sora is better off with the gods than if he became king? That may be he has never really wanted to be king? That maybe I could be just as good of a ruler as my brother, despite the fact that I was born after him and am in love with another man?!"

A hand suddenly connected with the prince's cheek for the second time in his life. Even though there was enough force behind it to jerk his head to the side, Roxas only tipped it slightly, and he looked at his father defiantly. This only made the king angry.

"Impudent whelp!" he hissed. "How dare you speak to me so flippantly? After your mother died and I had to raise you boys myself—"

"You never knew how to raise us!" Roxas shouted. "You were too busy shaping Sora as your heir. Tell me, once Mother left the picture, when did you ever spend time with your sons for the sake of being with us?"

Roxas stopped and took a few deep breaths. The king, however, looked like he was about to blow up.

"All your mother ever did was fill your heads with silly fairy tales and encourage your relationship with that knight!" the ruler snapped. "From the day she conceived the both of you, she has done you wrong. You and your brother are lucky that I allowed you to—"

Roxas suddenly punched the bed. These things his father was saying about his mother… True, she did tell many a tall tale, but she was his and Sora's escape from the day to day duties of being a prince. Losing her was devastating for the entire kingdom. Why was he saying things like this?

"Where are you going with this, Father?" he asked, getting close to tears even as he managed to keep his voice steady. "I know you are upset about everything, but saying such things about Mother is no way to go about this. I know you've always blamed me for her death, but you shouldn't try to destroy my memory of her."

The king was incredibly shocked. "You honestly believe that I blame you for it?"

Roxas nodded sadly. The king sat on the bed next to him and let a few seconds pass between them before turning towards him.

"Despite what you may believe, Roxas," the noble said carefully, "I cared for your mother very much. And I care about both you and Sora, as well."

He tried to rest a hand on his son's to show that his feelings were true, but the smaller hand pulled away as his son turned from him.

"Is there a reason you came to my room other than to stop Axel and me?" he asked, changing the subject.

The king, still shocked by what his son revealed, replied almost dumbly, "I came to tell you about Kairi. She's asked to go on a silly journey to the Dark Kingdom. I denied her request, but I know how determined she can be, especially if it has to do with Sora. I wanted to know if you knew anything."

"Well, I don't," Roxas quickly whispered, still upset with the man.

The king stood and sighed, "Fine. Just know that security will be raised for the time being because of this."

Roxas nodded his response. After staring at his new heir for a few seconds, the king left the room to ponder over what the boy had told him. As soon as he was gone, Roxas let a tear slip down his face.

**~Up Above…~**

Riku was leading Sora through the halls of the mansion, leading him to the gardens so that the prince could finally meet the mysterious Marluxia. As they walked, Sora entertained himself by looking all around at anything and everything that struck his interest, from statues to pictures of lands and creatures he had never seen. There were even adorable little cat-like creatures—moogles, Riku had called them—passing by every so often. Sora watched those little creatures with some amusement and wondered what the puff-ball things attached to their heads were, but when he reached out to touch one of those balls, Riku was quick to advise against the action.

Every couple of doors or so, he would see people coming out—other gods, he assumed. Almost immediately upon seeing them, he would be smitten with their loveliness. It was said that the beauty of the gods surpassed any beauty seen amongst mere humans. It was even apparent in those descended from gods, such as Zexion. To actually see that it was true had the boy astonished.

He smiled and bowed his head at each one he saw, just to be polite. However, none of them reacted to it, and some of them only shut their doors on him. All of them had mixed expressions on their faces, some of the most apparent being wonder and anger. They were probably regarding him as an animal roaming around their home. That thought was making the once-prince feel discouraged.

He didn't notice that Riku was carefully watching his expressions as they walked on, so he was surprised when the god said, "You shouldn't worry about them."

The prince blushed, knowing what Riku was talking about, and said, "What are you talking about? I'm not worried about anything."

The silver-haired one quirked a brow, watching the brunette frown dishearteningly. He wrinkled his nose at that, for it bothered him to see the human upset, so he said, "Stop that. That look does not suit you. Just ignore them; they're not used to humans or anything less than a demigod or moogle walking our halls. But don't worry about it; in time, I'm sure they'll get over it."

Sora saw the encouraging smile his god was giving him and felt his own spirits lift.

After some time, Sora became bored with the lack of conversation, so he took a few steps ahead of his companion and turned around, walking backwards so he could face Riku.

"All right, I want you to tell me about this Marluxia," he stated with a wide grin. "I've never heard of him, and ithas been bothering me since you first mentioned him. Who is he? What is he like?"

Riku pretended to groan. "Can't you wait a minute? We're almost there."

A quick shake of the head. "No. Tell me about him."

A small smirk formed on the Earth God's cool lips as he tapped his chin in thought.

"Well, he is an interesting character. He's tactful… and a bit manipulative—he loves to play with people's minds from time to time, so beware. He can be a bit of a rebel and hides that fact behind a pretty face. However, he's fairly loyal to me. I think you'd like him."

Sora nodded, taking in the information. Then he mused aloud, "I wonder why I've never heard of him?"

Riku shrugged and asked, "Would the fact that he is a demigod have anything to do with it?"

Sora nodded as it dawned on him. After all, demigods weren't spoken ofmuch as the gods, even in his schooling (or what bit of it he actually paid attention to). Demigods were beings who were either born to a god and human or were once humans who were infused with the power of a god. Often, they shared attributes related to those of the god who sired them. All of them had long lifespans, but they could still die. It was the born demigods who were most known, though.

Feeling satisfied at knowing a little bit of what to expect, he turned around so he could walk forward again. However, he didn't turn quick enough and ended up bumping into someone's chest. Pulling away, Sora was about to apologize, but then he stopped when the person kneeled down to look at him.

"Ah, Marly, we were just looking for you," Riku greeted from next to him.

"And I was about to look for you," Marluxia said, and looked at Sora with a smirk. "Ah, so this is the prince you've been going on about, eh, Father?"

"Father?" Sora squeaked. What the hell? So Marluxia wasn't a turned demigod? He was Riku's son? He had no clue that Riku had… Surely, there would have been _something_… Sora felt his faith in his schooling shake even more than it ever had earlier in the day.

"Oh, he's so cute, panicking like that," Marluxia teased as he ruffled the shocked prince's hair. "I can see why you took him in, Daddy-dearest."

"Daddy?" Sora squeaked. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he took it all in. And he was feeling a sudden twinge of what he could only identify as jealousy at the thought that Riku may have coupled with someone. He couldn't figure out where the feeling came from, though.

Riku rolled his eyes at the demigod, but an amused smile managed to escape on his face as he quickly assured, "I'm not his father, Sora; he is just a human who was changed into a demigod some time ago."

"Oh, but you still sired me," Marluxia pointed out.

Sora was relieved at the news. Marluxia saw this and smirked again. He put an arm around the prince's shoulders and dramatically placed a hand on his own chest, saying,"You don't have to blame him for this, Sora; I just had to have some fun with you the moment I saw you."

"Why is that?" the brunette asked.

"Have you ever tried comparing the meaning of your names?" the demigod asked, a pleasant smile appearing on his fair face. "I did when Riku told me about you and his mysterious attraction to you as I was making your medicine." He placed a hand on Sora's head and gently fluffed up the unruly brown hair. "Sora and Riku… Sky and ground… In most worlds, the two are separated by one distinct line: the horizon. Between you two, the horizon is mortality." He stopped his fluffing and gave Riku a wicked little smile. "I like the idea. You two would make an interesting couple."

Sora's blue eyes widened a little as he wondered what he meant by that. He hoped it wasn't another matchmaker idea.

Riku, however, only shrugged slightly and said, "I suppose we do make an interesting pair, what with all the drama that constantly surrounds Sora and my having to save him every time."

Marluxia snickered, "And drama is exactly what this place needs."

He pulled Sora into an embrace, nuzzling the brown hair and throwing Riku a teasing look, but then he suddenly frowned, as though he realized something. He held Sora away from him and studied his him with light blue eyes. Then he said, "Speaking of drama, Riku, I thought you said he was hurt. From the injuries you described and the remedy I gave you, he should still have a few of those bruises. The rate that he has healed is near godly!"

Sora blinked innocently at the suspicious look Marluxia was now giving him.

"Maybe your remedy works faster on humans?" he offered.

The demigod sharply shook his head. "No, that's ridiculous; that remedy was, for the most part, a mere painkiller. I was going to give you the proper salves after examining your body myself."

Sora only looked at Riku as though he were the explanation for his fast recovery. Riku only shrugged.

"I have no clue what happened," the silveret said. "I've just assumed he's a fast healer. Whatever the case, I'm happy he's all right."

"His healing is still too fast…" Marluxia pondered, still looking unsure.

His sky blue eyes squinted at the boy, the suspicion never leaving them. Sora watched the demigod's face suddenly break out into an expression of discovery, and he could tell that Marluxia had formed an idea. Marluxia had an evil, mischievous look on his face that had Sora feeling nervous. The demigod then turned to the silver god.

"Oh, Riku," he wheedled, "I almost forgot to tell you: Lord Sephiroth came by earlier. He was asking for you and said it was urgent."

Riku raised a skeptical brow at Marluxia's behavior. Crossing his arms, he responded, "Oh, really? Did he say what it was about?"

"No."

The Earth God turned an eye to Sora, who was trying to slowly edge away from the demigod. Riku, of course, knew Marluxia was probably thinking to do something to the prince and decided to play along with his game.

"All right. Then I'll take Sora with me."

"He only wanted to see you."

Riku quirked a brow. "Then where shall I leave him?"

"I don't mind going back to your room, Riku," Sora piped up, already a few inches away from his original place.

Marluxia reached over and brought the prince next to him, tossing an arm around the boy's shoulders and holding him firmly in place. He grinned at Sora and said, "Nonsense; you'll get lost." He looked at Riku with a smile that was almost reassuring. "I'll watch over him."

"Actually, I think someone wanted to talk to Sora about something important."

"Like Xemnas?" Marluxia snickered.

Riku glared. "More like Selphie."

The demigod gasped dramatically. "You would choose to leave him with her over me? My, I'm hurt, dear Riku."

Riku only snorted at Marluxia's act and quickly took Sora's arm as he tried to pass the demigod. Marluxia reached out and held onto Sora's other arm, jerking him back. Sora cried out at the force the two were using on him, and he wrenched his arms from their grasps, glaring at the two.

"I'll go back to the room; I promise I won't get lost," he reassured. Then he respectively bowed his head at the demigod and said, "It was nice to meet you, Marluxia," before going back the way he came.

"No!" Marluxia cried, practically throwing himself at the human.

A second later, there was a surprised yell from Riku, and once again Sora felt himself being jerked back by the arm and dragged away into a nearby door. Before the door closed, he saw a large rose bush where Riku once stood.

"Marluxia, you bastard!" he heard Riku's voice cry from the bush. A pale arm was sticking out of the bush, trying to separate it so that the god could go through. Riku's angry face showed up as he yelled, "Bring him back!"

"I will as soon as I figure something out," Marluxia muttered as he led Sora through a magnificent garden.

It was lush and green with plants like none he had ever seen. The flowers and fruits that could be seen were of all different shapes and sizes and colors. Sora was left in awe by what he saw, but sadly, he couldn't stay and look at them because of the strange pink-haired demigod was still leading him by the arm.

"Where are you taking me?" Sora asked.

Marluxia said nothing. He just kept leading him around, raising his hands and making gestures at plants. In response to this, the plants would move in some way to cover their trail.

Sora frowned at not being spoken to and decided to ask, "Why are you doing this?"

Again, Marluxia said nothing. Sora sighed.

Suddenly, the demigod stopped, and the prince was tugged against a plant-covered wall. Marluxia stood before him, raised his arms high, and then lowered them. The greenery on the wall came to life, lifting itself up and covering them, almost like a sort of curtain. The curtain left space for its occupants to move around in.

Sora touched the plants that made up their covering with awe. He had no clue that a demigod could have such power… What else could he do? Moreover, what else could Riku do, since he also held power over plants as well as anything and everything that comes from the earth?

He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt his kidnapper's hands patting his body, mumbling things as he did so.

"What are you doing?" the human yelped.

"I need to know," Marluxia quickly said in response, though it seemed that the words were spoken more to himself than to Sora. He took Sora's chin between his thumb and index finger and moved the boy's head to the side. He studied the boy's ocean blue eyes and continued, "I need to know what it is about you that Riku is so fascinated about, what it is that's drawing him to you. And also, I want to figure out how you were able to heal so quickly. I have developed a theory about you that I must test."

He let go of Sora and turned to the plants, mumbling something to them, or so it looked to Sora. He pulled out a wooden bowl from his clothes and sat down. The prince wanted to leave now, but seeing as there didn't seem to be any way for him to escape, he settled on asking questions from the demigod who was plucking leaves and flowers off the "curtain".

"Who are you, Marluxia? I mean, I know your name, but I thought Riku was the only one who could control plants. I had no clue that he created a demigod."

"Well…" the pink-haired one started, stealing a glance at him and then going back into whatever he was doing. "He sired me as his demigod a few centuries ago. I'm only good for the plants, however. I can't control stones or minerals or even the very earth like Riku can."

He picked up a nearby rock and began to do grind it into the bowl. He stopped again and looked back at the prince, a slight pout on his lips."So you know nothing about me? I would have thought that maybe _something_ of my creation would be recorded or that maybe a vague rumor or legend came about. I have half a mind to go down to that kingdom of yours and make my presence known." He sighed and shook his head in disappointment. Then he used the rock, which now was covered in bits of greenery, to point at the prince as he continued almost dramatically, "For you, the very prince of my old home, to not know about me! It's such a shame!"

Sora was surprised to know that the demigod came from his kingdom. He was about to ask Marluxia more about his history when suddenly, the said demigod froze. He swiftly came up and covered the prince's mouth with a hand and pressed their bodies against the wall. Seconds passed. Sora heard nothing except the demigod's quiet breathing. He wondered what it was they were hiding from.

When Marluxia relaxed, so did he. As soon as he had his personal space back, he tried to ask about what was going on, but that was interrupted when Marluxia scooped up whatever he had grinded up in the bowl, ordered, "Taste this," and stuck his fingers in the prince's mouth. Almost instantly, Sora tried to spit it out because of the disgusting taste that met his tongue. Marluxia, however, seemed shocked at first but then became impressed by this reaction. He covered his mouth to hide his laugh as the prince tried to wipe the taste off his tongue by wiping it against his hands.

"What is this?!" Sora sputtered with his tongue sticking out.

It was then that the plant-curtain parted, revealing the two—Sora trying to wipe stuff out of his mouth with his hands and sleeves and Marluxia with a mixed expression of amusement and interest on his face—to an angry Earth God. His anger turned into concern upon seeing Sora, and the silver one pulled the boy away from Marluxia and into his protective embrace.

"What did you do to him?" Riku demanded, glaring at the demigod.

"Nothing. I just had him taste something," Marluxia answered with a shrug.

"Don't even try to act innocent," the god snapped. "What was the something? What did you do?"

An evil smile formed on the plant deity's face. "An experiment."

Riku clenched a fist at the response. To Sora, it seemed like he was going to hit Marluxia, but instead, the silver god ran a hand down his face and sighed deeply, glaring at the demigod.

"I don't want you to experiment on him anymore," he snapped. Marluxia only rolled his eyes in response and kept a smirk on his face. Riku was quick to add, "No kidnapping, either. I know you did this to piss me off."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it, my lovely Riku," Marluxia said in a sneaky tone.

Riku worriedly watched Sora, who was still wiping his tongue. The boy seemed okay, but he knew there had to be more to what Marluxia did. He glared at the demigod.

"What are you really up to, Marly?" he asked.

Marluxia smirked and walked up to his sire. "Don't fret, dear Riku, I assure you that it's nothing bad." He passed by Riku, swaying his hips a bit, whispering, "In fact, nothing is wrong at all." And then he began to walk away.

The silver god sighed deeply, shaking his head. He looked at Sora, who was glaring at Marluxia with his tongue hanging out, then turned back to the demigod.

"Tell me, Marluxia, was this experiment of yours a success?" he asked with another sigh.

Marluxia turned and gave an evil smile to the pair. "Yes, it was."

Riku fumed for a few seconds at the leaving demigod before turning back to Sora. And then he laughed. The prince glared at him, but the god couldn't help it. The boy looked so silly with his tongue hanging out like that, and the little bit of a leaf from whatever Marluxia had given him that was stuck to his lip didn't help the image.

Somehow, the Earth God had managed to get out of his giggling fit and asked, "Is your tongue all right?"

"Yes," Sora growled, "but that stuff tastes terrible!"

"I'm sorry about that," the silver god chuckled, "but I did warn that he's _fairly_ loyal to me. He can be quite the schemer. Now come on, Sora, I'll take you to some water so you can wash it out."

Sora nodded in response. The boy allowed the god to lead him through the garden, all the while getting into more of a badmood because the taste was simply not leaving his mouth. He soon found himself coming up with evil plots of revenge against the demigod.

As soon as he heard running water, he slowly came out of his thoughts and found that Riku led him to a small river.

"Nice," Sora commented.

Riku smiled fondly at it. "I know. Demyx and I created it when we were young and just learning about our abilities. It was one of our first accomplishments that didn't end up terrorizing everyone out of here."

Sora smiled at him. He then approached the river and looked at the water. His reflection came back at him very clearly, revealing a rather scruffy-looking ex-prince. He kneeled to it and was about to dip his hand in it, but then he hesitated. It suddenly felt like a sin tosully such clean water. He almost peeked back at Riku to see if it was all right to drink, but then he stopped himself, feeling silly about it.

He cupped his hands in the liquid, took a sip, and found that it was good. He couldn't quite describe it, but it was somehow even better than the water he drank at home. And it really was getting the bad taste out.

He took in a few more drinks before simply dunking his head in the river and gulping up as much as he could. When he came back up for air, he tossed his head back and shook the water off. He was about to dunk his head again when he noticed that the Earth God was sitting next to him, watching him with amusement. Sora blushed, but Riku shook his head.

"Don't worry about what you're doing. I don't care."

Sora smiled and sat back next to Riku, deciding that he had enough water for now.

Nothing was said between the two, though they didn't mind. Sora was content with watching the running water, while Riku was playing around with two rocks that he had rolling about on the ground in front of him. The young god flicked his fingers out, skipping first one, then the other rock in the water.

The prince broke the silence.

"So, about Demyx…" he began, leaning forward to get another handful of water. He took a little stone from his side and threw it into the stream. "Did you know that he and Selphie came into your room while we were sleeping?"

"Heh, I thought I heard my favorite lullaby," Riku chuckled. "I also thought I heard something strange happen to his sitar… like it was slammed against something."

"Selphie hit him over the head with it."

The silver headed god turned to him, aquamarine eyes wide with disbelief. "Are you serious?" He began to laugh. "What happened to make her do a thing like that?"

Just the thought of what had happened caused Sora to shake with embarrassment. Instead of answering, he shook his head and said, "You wouldn't want to know."

Riku blinked. "Tell me anyway."

"No. It's nothing special. Demyx was doing something that made her upset."

A silver brow was raised. "Really? Then tell me; I have to tease him about it the next time I see him."

"No!"

Riku turned more toward the boy and sat up straighter to seem more intimidating to him.

"Tell me," he urged.

The brunette copied what the silveretdid and leaned toward him, whispering sharply, "No."

The Earth God smiled wryly and stood up. "Fine, then. I guess I'll have to change my tactics."

He suddenly pointed at the ground beneath Sora. The prince felt the earth underneath him suddenly give way, until he fell into the river. Luckily, there wasn't much of a current, but the water was still deeper than he had expected. He sputtered and coughed as he got out. He walked across the ground until he was far enough away from the stream so that, if Riku decided to play the same trick on him, it wouldn't work. He sat down and looked up to see that the silver-haired god had a sweet, simple smile on his pale face.

"So, will you tell me what happened now?" Rikuaskedwith a sugary-sweet smile. "I'm sure you know I can do worse."

Sora, displeased with his soaked state, only glared at the god as he wrung out his clothes. "Never mind about it, Riku. I'm not in the mood for childish games at the moment."

Riku, feeling bad when he saw how upset the prince was, extended his hand in apology. Sora looked warily at the hand before stretching his own out—but as soon as their hands clasped, he used his other hand to clasp the god's wrist and spread his lips in an evil smile. The Earth God suddenly found himself being propelled into the river. But before he could be launched, he held on firmly to Sora's hand and thus pulled the boy with him. All at once, the two were wrestling in the water.

The two rolled about, doing whatever they could to gain the advantage, short of scratching and biting each other. They were both just having fun trying to bring the other down, forgetting all about the reason for their fight.

It was all over when Sora had managed to get the silver boy under him, simultaneously straddling the god's torso and pinning his arms to his sides. Sora cackled triumphantly as Riku bucked and struggled, trying in vain to get himself free.

And then very suddenly, he felt something wrapping itself around his arms before he was yanked off the higher being. He was being held in mid-air by the branches of a tree. Other trees joined in, their branches coming around to wrap around both his legs. One branch managed to cover his mouth with leafy twigs. Then the trees began to pull him away, like they were trying to swallow him into the rest of the garden.

Riku watched everything unfold with interest, having never seen his faithful plants act this way in the garden. This was his security measure for a time in the future when he may be at odds with another god. Though it never happened before, since he had a very good relationship with all the others, it didn't hurt to set it up. The plants had obviously thought that Sora was out to hurt their master.

Snapping out of his thoughts, the god quickly waved his hands about at his plants. This, in turn, caused the trees to give up their captive and let him fall from quite a height. Seeing that Sora could get hurt, Riku ran until he was right below Sora, ready to catch him. However, instead of doing that, the god served as the thing that would break the human's fall. Sora collapsed on top of Riku, said silveret landing flat on his back with a grunt.

"Ugh," the brunette groaned. "You have a hell of a way of showing how much of a sore loser you are."

"Wasn't me," Rikusaid**. **"They thought you were going to harm me."

Sora began to get off the silver one and muttered, "You could have warned me that was going to happen."

"I didn't know it _would_ happen. Are you at least alright?"

"Yes," Sora said with a roll of his eyes.

The brunette was able to use his arms to lift himself up. He tried to glare at the one below him as he tried to move back, but when he caught sight of those eyes, he just stared. Stared at those beautiful aquamarine orbs. How they held a certain depth to their owner… There was a sort of intensity to them, one that reminded Sora of when the god held him with concern when he was held in the dungeon…

The god came out from under him, and Sora couldn't help but marvel at how his silver hair, still wet from their fight, was now a shimmering gray.

Riku sat on his back, taking in deep gulps of garden air. He had fun. He hadn't done anything like that since he was a small godling.

He took a sidelong glance at the brunette and saw that he was staring at him intently. The human was causing him to have strange feelings every time he saw him… He never knew these feelings before, but he knew he liked them. If only he could figure out what it was Sora was doing to him.

Dismissing his thoughts, Riku suggested, "I think it's time we go see the others**.**"

The brunette came out of his own thoughts and asked, "Others?"

"The other gods."

Sora looked down at himself and then over to Riku. "With these wet clothes?"

"I don't feel like going back to my room yet." The silveret shrugged and suddenly gave a sinister smile, remembering the other's reluctance for taking off his clothes. "If you want, we can get naked and wait for them to dry."

"No!" Sora howled.

After chuckling at the prince's reaction, Riku got up and left the garden, Sora following.

So, they walked on in the mansion, passing more of those moogles and decorations, until they reached a door. Riku reached for it and stopped. When Sora gave him a questioning look, he replied, "Are you ready to see the gods for who they truly are?"

Sora nodded anxiously.

"Well…" Riku pushed open the door, leaving Sora to be amazed.

Inside was a large room, filled with groups of gods who were conversing amongst one another. A few of them noticed the two of them, and suddenly Sora felt extremely nervous under their inquisitive and discriminating eyes. He felt like they were looking at him as though he were an insignificant bug.

Among those eyes, he saw the sunset ones that belonged to none other than Xemnas. He, above all others, looked particularly angry at his presence there, but Sora knew that he wasn't upset in the same way as the others. Because of how he had been acting earlier, he knew that the Dark God had a sort of attraction to Riku and was jealous of him for some reason. And for some other reason, Sora had the urge to just laugh at those hateful eyes.

He decided to hang back where he stood next to Riku, enjoying the atmosphere that came when all of the gods soon ignored him and went back to their conversations. All except the familiar Love Goddess, who was quickly approaching him with a smile.

"Hey, how are you doing, sleepyhead?" Selphie greeted cheerfully.

"I'm doing well," the prince replied, thankful to see a friendly face.

The goddess looked him up and down. "Well, you look a whole lot better than you did before." Then she smiled brightly and said, "Let me be the first to welcome you to the family."

"Thank you," Sora gratefully replied, scratching the back of his head almost sheepishly.

"And you…" The girl was now turning her attention to Riku. "You know, you were keeping him in that room of yours for a long time." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Some of us were wondering just exactly what it was you two were doing in there."

"We were doing nothing," Riku said innocently.

"Yes, we did nothing at all," Sora came in.

That was when the once prince quickly got an idea. It was just an idea to tease the girl for coming into the room with Demyx earlier. So to execute it, he threw an arm around Riku's shoulders and pressed his body close to his god. He smirked at the girl and nuzzled a pale cheek, continuing on by saying, "We did nothing wrong in our room; all we did was succumb to a certain need that our bodies craved." It wasn't exactly a lie. Sleep was definitely something their bodies had needed after the events from earlier that day.

Somehow knowing what Sora was trying to do, Riku looked pleasantly at the one close to him and wrapped an arm around the waist and replied, "I'm glad you think of it as 'our' room now. That should make some things easier."

Selphie didn't know that they were only playing around with her. She felt herself panic when Sora and Riku flashed her evil smiles at the same time and knew that she and Demyx were caught. She should have known that at least one of them had woken up, what with all the things Demyx was doing. A fierce red blush came across her cheeks as she watched Sora continue his tease by fondly running his hand through long, silvery hair.

"Hm… Do I want to know what exactly this need of yours was, Sora?" a deep voice asked suggestively.

The little group turned around to find that three other gods were right behind them. One of them, the one who had asked the question, was Sephiroth. The other two were Cloud and Leon, Sephiroth's lovers. Selphie and Riku noticed that Leon was standing at an odd sort of way. There was no doubt in their minds that he had a visible limp from whatever the latest escapade he just had with either or both of his lovers was. **/2/ **Sora, however, blushed deeply at the fact that he had been overheard by the Head God and quickly got off Riku.

"I was just talking about sleep!" he piped up in embarrassment.

The Head God gave him a skeptical look, as though he didn't believe the boy. When Sora's cheeks turned a deeper red, Sephiroth's face broke out into a small, yet amused, smile. He didn't miss seeing Selphie turn away from the group to sigh with relief.

His two companions, Cloud and Leon, were silently studying Sora in their own ways, the brunette scrutinizing with his eyes while the blonde was just looking between the human and the godling. Then Cloud next to him crossed his arms at the little brunette and grinned.

"So this is the great Sora we've heard so much about, eh?" he said. His clear blue eyes met with Sephiroth's green ones. "I think I see what you were talking about earlier, Seph."

"I do, too, Cloud," Leon commented. He looked at Riku and smirked. "You have good taste, Riku. I approve of him. And I think Sephiroth does, as well."

Cloud nodded in response to that. Sephiroth scowled at his lovers but never denied what was said. Meanwhile, Riku's eyes widened in embarrassment at what Leon was talking about, and Sora hid his own red face behind a hand. Selphie's eyes were wide with shock and had a hand covering her open mouth.

"I don't believe it: Sephiroth approves of a relation ship between Riku and Sora?" she said incredulously.

"It's nothing like that!" Riku and Sora blurted at her at the same time.

"Of course it's not…" Leon teased, reaching out to pet the slightly wet brown mass that was Sora's hair.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes and said, "I said nothing about approvals. You are all being ridiculous."

Cloud and Leon shared skeptical looks with each other.

Soon, the mood of the room changed considerably for the rest of the evening. Sora enjoyed himself amongst the company of gods, most of who were now more accepting of him after seeing that their leader had approved of his presence.

**~Down below…~**

It was night now. Roxas, Kairi, and the knights had already met in the wine cellar and discussed how they would escape, given the rise of security that was going to happen. They also talked about transportation and with a map that led to the Dark Kingdom—which Axel had managed to swipe somehow—they tried to figure out possible routes to get to their destination. After they finished, they went their own ways to their rooms so that they could pack up and get some rest before it was time to leave.

That time was coming soon, to the dismay of a blonde prince. Roxas was having problems getting some sleep; he had been tossing and turning, thinking about what he would be doing soon. So, because there really was nothing else he could do until it was time, he decided to go straight to his brother's room.

After a quick scan of the room, he walked toward a fancy shelf on the wall next to Sora's bed. The case held several weapons, most of which were just for show. But there was only one weapon that Roxas was interested in: the Keyblade.

The prince took the weapon from the shelf and walked to his brother's bed, sitting on it while holding the blade across his open palms. To the average person, it was just a big silver key. In truth, it was a great weapon, a gift from the Light God, Hikaru.

The midwives had said it first appeared right after Sora was delivered, simply appeared right next to him in a bright flash of light. It took the women by surprise, of course. They had tried to take the Keyblade away from him, but the queen had screamed—because she was still trying to give birth to Roxas—for them to leave the blade and her son alone. Shortly after the princes were born, there was a debate over what the appearance of the Keyblade could possibly mean. Because the Light God, Hikaru, was the only being to have such a thing, people took it as a sign that the prince was to be married to a later-born Kairi.

The blade had stayed with Sora since learned how to use the Keyblade as he would any other weapon. Whenever Sora was in trouble, he was able to summon it, and it would appear in his hand, always in its brilliant light. And not only was it a weapon, but it was also magic: it had the power to lock and unlock things.

Roxas chuckled, fondly looking back on his and Sora's years as little boys. They used to torture the palace staff by locking and unlocking doors and chests and anything else that had a lock on it. They stopped doing it when they managed to trap their parents into the throne room for a few hours. Those were good times…

The prince sighed. He had been sort of hoping that the Keyblade wouldn't be there; if Sora got into any major danger up in the god world, it would have disappeared from its place in the shelf and ended up with him, and Roxas would know that he was all right. The fact that it was still here meant that either Sora was dead or it simply wasn't called on… Then again, Sora did promise on the day he left that he would never use it again. Roxas never thought he would keep to his word.

He sighed. So much trouble had happened because of some oversized key.

The blonde prince gripped the hilt with one hand and thought. He was the only other person to be able to use the Keyblade… It was the greatest weapon ever to grace the kingdom. If Roxas was to go to the Dark Kingdom, he would need nothing less than the best of weapons to face its horrors… And since Sora was not going to use it…

Roxas raised his hand and massaged his temples. He found himself wishing the blasted thing had never existed. So many things had happened to Sora because of it; it had already twisted his destiny so cruelly—who's to say that it wouldn't happen to his twin? Roxas didn't want it, but he knew it would be needed.

The prince raised the blade and looked it over, turning it about so that the moonlight shined across the silver shaft. He supposed that this is what his brother would want him to do. He would have to assume his beloved brother was safe and sound in the God World. And Roxas would use the Keyblade to keep his companions—or at least most of them—safe. He would let neither the blade nor anyone else—be they god, human, or whatever—decide what his destiny should be.

With a flick of his wrist and some new-found confidence, Roxas watched his brother's birthright disappear in a flash of light.

A few minutes passed. It was now time to leave. Roxas closed his eyes and took one deep breath to steel himself, sparing just one last thought to wonder how he had gotten himself into this mess. He quickly went back to his room to get his things. He then carefully tip-toed through the halls of the palace, somehow managing to dodge all the guards that came near him as he made his way back to the wine cellar.

The first person he saw when he entered was Zexion, who was leaning against a wall. He seemed to be in deep another part of the room, Axel and Lexaeus were having a conversation with each other. Kairi was nowhere in sight.

"Where is she?" Roxas asked, putting down his things.

"She hasn't come yet," Zexion answered, a blue eye peeking through his silvery hair to acknowledge his presence.

The blonde raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I thought she would be the first one here."

Zexion shrugged and went back to his thinking. Axel reached behind his hair and scratched his head.

"I guess we'll give her a few minutes to get here; maybe she got held back by the guards," he suggested.

They all waited in silence, trying to listen for any sign of the girl. She never came.

"They must be keeping her in her room," Lexaeus sighed. "Well, we anticipated that this would happen…"

"Any volunteers on who wants to get her?" the redheaded knight asked with a wry smile.

"Roxas and I will do it," Zexion volunteered. Roxas was about to object, but one look from the knight's eyes quickly changed his mind.

"Fine," his counterpart agreed. "Then Axel and I shall get our mounts ready and packed. We'll wait at the stables."

Roxas and Zexion shared a nod of agreement. They quickly left the cellar and reached the hallway to Kairi's room with few obstacles, but they soon found why the princess was delayed: there were several guards in front of her door.

Roxas stepped forth, quickly thinking of an impromptu way he could distract said guards, but Zexion stopped him by holding his hand up. The blonde gave the knight a questioning look, but it turned into one of understanding when he saw the knight leafing through the pages of a black book.

He grinned mischievously, knowing exactly what the book was, and he made sure to get behind Zexion so he wouldn't get caught in what was going to happen next. The blue-haired knight found the page he was looking for and uttered some words in an ancient language.

The guards took a step back, as though they were surprised by some unknown enemy. They quickly drew their weapons, but then they all stiffened up and began to panic. A few of them looked like they were having difficulty breathing. Then they began to close their eyes. The whole time this was happening, Roxas couldn't hear a sound.

When the guards passed out on the ground, Roxas walked up to them and tapped one of them with his foot to make sure they were down for the count. He grinned at Zexion and asked, "Now, what did you need me for?"

"Just in case," Zexion smirked as he went past the blonde and opened the door.

Inside, they found the princess pacing from one side of her room to the other. She glared at them when they first entered, but then she blinked in surprise. She brushed past them and looked out into the hall, spotting the guards on the ground.

"Oh, my…" she gasped. "How did you do this? I didn't even know there was a fight!"

"I'll tell you later," the knight quickly said. "Now, where did you hide your things?"

So, getting Kairi's things, they made their way to the stables, hiding themselves whenever guards came close. When they got there, they were greeted by their fellow knights, as well as three horses and two chocobos. Lexaeus took Kairi's things to fix them to one of the chocobos while Axel handed Roxas the reins to the other. Soon, the whole group left the stables, the knights riding up front while the royals took the rear.

On they went through the sleepy city, approaching the kingdom's main gate as quickly as possible.

As they advanced, they discovered an unexpected obstacle. There was a small blockade of knights riding on chocobos. It seemed that the king had learned his lesson from the first escape attempt.

"What are we going to do?" Kairi cried as they got closer and closer to the blockade.

That was when Lexaeus's horse rode on ahead. From behind his back, the knight pulled out an oversized tomahawk. With one hand on the reins of his horse, he raised the tomahawk with the other and brought it crashing down to the ground, causing the earth to crack deeply. The ground continued to split and crack and was soon causing a sort of earthquake in the area surrounding it. The direction it was going went straight to the blockade. Almost instantly, the people began to scatter, knowing full well that there was no way they could stop it and that if they fell in, it would most likely lead to their deaths. The escaping group, however, rode on.

The crack continued on its course and went underneath the gate. The earthquake that followed caused the giant wall to shudder and groan until it finally collapsed. A little ways away from the rubble, the split had finally stopped.

With the damage done, the knights and the nobles all sped past the ruined gate and went out into the country. Some of the knights from the blockade followed them, but it was only for so long because Lexaeus continued to strike the ground with his hammer whenever they got close. Even when they managed to shake them off their trail, the group never stopped riding until they reached some woods. Then they slowed their rides. They were all quiet for a few seconds until without warning, they all burst into relieved laughter.

"Oh, shit, that was awesome!" Axel whooped.

"Can't believe we actually did it," Roxas agreed.

"The king will be very cross with us when we return," Zexion chuckled with amusement.

"We can worry about that later," the princess dismissed, "_after_ we bring Sora back with us."

"So we are really going to try to defy a god's will?" Lexaeus mused.

"Of course." Kairi simply said.

"Well, then, who's got that map?" Axel asked. "Let's get this quest started!"

**/1/: That's right. I'm gonna have Demyx with Luxord in this fic. Don't like it? Tough bananas.**

**/2/: This is the result of what happened after chapter 5 ended. The revenge of Cloud. That'll teach Leon not to steal a turn. XD!! How Cloud brought on his revenge, I will leave to your imaginations.**

**A/N: To anyone who's wondering about what happened to the guards in this last section… well, it's really up to your imagination. In my mind, they thought they were being crushed by giant snakes. AkuRokulove thought they drowned. It's not really important about what they saw, really; I just needed an excuse to knock them out.**

**If there are some things that don't make sense or if there are any contradictions or whatever, don't worry! I'll try to explain them in future chapters.**

**Hope you liked the chapter! Please review if you did! Happy Holidays!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Ah! Finally, Chapter 7 is up! Yay! You have no idea how long it's taken me to do this—seriously. I've literally ripped this chapter APART. Only the first half with Roxas and the others was part of the original, and even that was changed so many times. I doubt there's even a whole sentence in here that was in the original. And then Sora and Riku's part—OMG. I had a totally different scene there, but it was completely irrelevant to the story—then I had another scene there, and that was just… it just didn't make sense! But finally there's this scene… Lots of stuff changed, but I like balcony scene between them.**

…**To be honest, this has got to be my least favorite chapter because of all the corrections and drafts and ripping up I did. I'm not sure I'm even satisfied with this final draft with it. At least I've gotten rid of all the blue notes I had written/typed to myself in different sections and I've said all I need to say. XP**

**Actually, this is a good chapter to read (in my opinion, lol). Although, I'm wondering if it would be more of a filler chapter or not… Well, it's necessary, I think. It introduces some things before Roxas and the group reach the Dark Kingdom… Oh my, this story keeps getting bigger and bigger! XD!**

**I hope you like this, though. There is one particular scene here that I like and thoroughly enjoyed writing. Can you figure out which one?**

**Well, I think that's all I should say for now. Here is Chapter 7. Enjoy!**

**Down Below…**

It had been a few days since the group escaped and started their journey to the Dark Kingdom. In those few days, they got through a lot of land. They were going the quickest way to the kingdom, which was not on the map. They skipped most towns along the way and tried to take as little breaks as possible. The only time they every stopped was to enter one of the towns supplies. Other than that, they would just ride for hours until rest was needed. Doing that led them being in the forest they were now trotting towards. It would take them only a few more days to reach their destination.

Everyone was feeling confident now that they were so close to the goal—everyone, that is, except Zexion. He was moping around a lot, being even quieter than he usually was. The others could see shame and regret passing through his eyes when he was deep in thought. They knew he still wasn't over his mistake with Sora, but seeing the bluenet in that depressed state was unnerving to them.

That was why Axel decided to ride next to him. The redhead tried to get him to loosen up by chatting about the weather, pointing at the scenery, or cracking jokes, but that did nothing to change Zexion's mood. In fact, he just looked more annoyed by the chatter than anything else.

"Hey, you know something?" Axel rattled on. "This is like a vacation, you know? I mean, since we're not doing our daily routines and stuff. We're just riding on and on and getting to enjoy the outdoors. Even my AkuRoku here is more relaxed." Axel stroked his black horse's mane happily and smiled brightly at the other knight. **[1] **"This is the life, eh, Zex?"

Zexion only sighed and stared ahead as they trotted on. Roxas shook his head in irritation before making his chocobo trot up until he blocked Zexion's way. Axel and Kairi stopped their own rides, wondering what the prince might do. Lexaeus stopped for only a second before he continued riding at a much slower pace.

"Look, Zexion," the prince began, "you should stop feeling bad about what happened to Sora and focus on our journey. We need your insight and your skills as a hunter, so snap out of it!"

"Yes, no one blames you," Kairi piped, coming closer to the knight and placing a comforting hand on his back.

Zexion sighed and hung his head low.

"It is not a mistake that anyone can make," he stated after a while. "If it were just a mistake of the eye, I wouldn't be as upset—but his highness didn't smell like himself!" He looked up at the sky and frowned, his silvery-blue brows drawn together in confusion. "I'm not sure how to explain it. I have known the prince for years, have known his scent for years, but on that day… his scent was not the one I was familiar with. It was as though his usual scent was fading away and a new one was taking over."

"Maybe you were a little under the weather that day. It happens." Axel offered with a shrug.

Zexion scoffed indignantly and shook his head. "Nonsense! For generations, my family has taken pride in our strong sense of smell; it is our inheritance from our godly ancestor, Ienzo. Not once has it ever led us wrong, even during sickness."

"Then how do you explain what happened?"

"I don't know!" the bluenet snapped. "I can only speculate that coming in contact with the god Riku somehow changed his scent! But even if that were the case, it still stands that Prince Sora was subjected to torture because of me. It's all my fault!"

"That's enough!" boomed a loud voice from a distance. Everyone turned in surprise at the stoic knight as he got off his horse. Crossing his arms, he stated in a slightly annoyed tone, "We're going to stop here to eat and rest for a bit. Hopefully by then, we'll stop worrying about what happened and get on with everything."

No one objected. No one wanted to get Lexaeus even more upset than he already was. So with that, they all got off their rides. Lexaeus and Zexion each left to get wood and food, respectively, while Axel, Roxas, and Kairi relaxed and watched over their rides and supplies.

It wasn't long before Zexion came back with a lot berries and some dead animals. Lexaeus, however, took longer in coming back. The group wasn't too worried about him at first and waited for him while they munched some berries, but when nightfall quickly set in and the cold got to them, they couldn't help but wonder what was taking him.

"Damn it, how long does it take to get a little firewood?" Axel complained, his teeth chattering loudly.

"Should we look for him?" Kairi asked worriedly. "He might be hurt!"

"Lexy doesn't get hurt," the knight said nonchalantly. "He's probably taking a nap or clearing his head or something."

"But he wouldn't take so long…" the girl whispered.

"Then I'll look for him."

Three pairs of eyes blinked in surprise as Zexion got his bow and quiver. [2] They could see how concerned he was about his comrade. It was expected; those two were always together, always so close. It was a wonder how things hadn't changed between them…

"Wait, Zexion, I'll go with you," Kairi said as she stood and dusted off her clothes.

"No need to trouble yourself, Princess," Zexion said.

The girl's midnight eyes glittered with determination. "Don't try to stop me. I want to know what's taking him so long, and I don't want to get bored by waiting around here."

The knight stared at her silently before he finally gave a nod and walked towards the forest. Kairi giggled in triumph and followed him.

Roxas watched them go as he reached for some berries—but before his hand could reach the bunch, it was suddenly slapped away. He frowned at his lover and tried to get them again, only to be stopped by another sharp slap.

"Axel, let me eat."

"No. You're gonna help them find Lexaeus," Axel stated, his arms crossed.

"Do I have to go?" Roxas wrinkled his nose at the thought of being in the middle of a forest with Kairi. "Why won't _you_ go? He's your comrade!"

At that response, Axel placed his hands on his hips, an expectant scowl on his lips. "You're still Kairi's little servant boy," he explained as he went to AkuRoku and pulled out a thick blanket to throw over his shoulders. "'Sides, you know I don't function well in the cold, so go on. I'll watch over the camp."

"I'm not going in there!"

"I don't want to hear any more about it," the knight snapped. "You're going to search with them, and you're going to enjoy it or else you'll get a good spanking. Got it memorized?"

Roxas opened his mouth to argue again, but Axel held his hand up for silence. Realizing that he wasn't going to win, the prince growled and stomped into the forest, grumbling about his lover's sensitivity to the cold. He quickly met up with Zexion and Kairi, and together they all searched for the missing knight.

"Lexaeus!" Kairi called out. When she didn't get an answer, she pouted. "Oh, where can he be?"

Roxas was beginning to get worried, as well. It wasn't like Lexaeus to take his time in doing a job; it went beyond his nature. So maybe something bad did happen to him. Perhaps he was attacked by a wild animal. Maybe he injured himself.

The blond shook his head. Lexaeus was better than that. Maybe Lexaeus just lost track of the time or got a little lost. Any minute now, they would bump into him. Any minute….

The young prince sighed. "Shouldn't we have found him by now, Zexion?"

"I imagine we should have," the bluenet answered as he pushed a low branch out of the way, "but there is a slight problem… Ever since we entered the forest, there has been a strange scent in the air, one that I didn't smell when I last came here."

"A strange… scent?" Kairi repeated.

Zexion nodded and continued on. "It's a powerful stench—I've never encountered anything like it before. Just one whiff of it makes me slightly dizzy, and it is giving me a hard time tracking Lexaeus and—"

Suddenly, he froze in place. Roxas and Kairi stopped and looked around to see what could have made him pause so abruptly. Neither could see nor hear anything, but they could easily feel the goose bumps rise on their skin while they searched for any threat that may come.

"What's wrong?" the princess asked in a hushed voice.

"Quiet!" the knight hissed. His eyes searched the forest as he took a few sidesteps closer to the girl. "Prince Roxas… get ready," Zexion warned as he reached back to pull out an arrow.

In response, Roxas summoned the Keyblade. They all became incredibly quiet, waiting… And then—

"What is it?!" Kairi screamed.

Roxas turned just in time to see a dark mass rising from the forest floor. It grew and shape-shifted until it looked like… a tiny person. But what was so odd about this creature-person was that it was black—even blacker than black. It stood with its back hunched, and it fidgeted and bounced all around as though it couldn't stop moving. It had shoe-like feet and three-fingered claws. A pair of antennae on its head twitched about and bulging yellow eyes stared at the group eerily, almost hungrily.

The little thing hopped toward them, but as soon as it was just a few feet away from them, Zexion quickly fired an arrow at it. Just when the arrow was going to hit, the little creature escaped by sinking back into the ground and becoming a dark mass that moved, almost swam, across the ground. Then it raised itself up and became the same little creature, fidgeting and staring at them with those yellow eyes.

After a few more fidgety hops, the dark creature turned into the sunken mass and came even closer to them. Kairi gasped and got behind Zexion as the knight drew another arrow. As soon as the creature began to rise back up, the bluenet fired, and the arrow hit its mark right between the bulging eyes. The thing didn't even have time to scream in agony. Its body just disappeared into a black cloud, and a small, glowing pink heart came out of it and floated into the sky.

"A heart…" Zexion mused out loud. His eyes grew wide with realization. "I think I know what that thing was."

"What? What was it?" Kairi squeaked, her body wracked with shivers.

Zexion opened his mouth to speak, but then he suddenly drew an arrow and yelled, "We're surrounded!"

No sooner had he said that, several black masses grew from the ground into several little creatures like the one before. Along with those, blackish-purple masses appeared in the air and evolved into large dark ball creatures with three branch-like appendages on their bodies. These new things had mouths similar to those seen on jack o' lanterns and the same eerie golden eyes as their smaller counterparts. [3] One look at them had Kairi give out a shrill scream before she fainted on the forest floor.

"Damn!" Zexion cursed. He could only pray that she would be all right…

One of the balls charged at Zexion, chomping its teeth as it sped up. Though the thing was fast, its attack was easily dodged. It continued its chomping charge for a few more feet before it stopped and turned around. By then, it was already too late; Zexion fired his arrow, and it hit the thing at its center. It gave a screeching sort of cry as it disappeared in a cloud, leaving behind only a heart to float to the stars.

Roxas wasn't so lucky when he began his fight. He had been distracted by Zexion's battle, and that was the opportunity a few other balls were looking for. Three of them surrounded the prince and took deep breaths, causing their bodies to expand. When they exhaled, their bodies violently rocketed around and bounced off each other and off the prince, shaking the boy up.

The blond swung at them with his Keyblade, but their attack had left him slightly disoriented and vulnerable. He didn't even see the fourth ball chomping at him until he felt the pain in his left arm. The thing had managed to sink its teeth into the arm while its momentum continued to make it go forward, so it was also dragging the prince with it. Roxas let out a cry and tried to keep his ground so that he wouldn't be carried off—however, that was not a good idea, for its teeth cut across his arm before it finally let go. The creature turned around and was joined by the three other balls in forming a circle around him.

Roxas, ignoring the pain, glared at the evil balls and quickly struck with his Keyblade. His weapon went through one ball's mouth and exited out its backside. He didn't even hesitate to watch it die as he swung his blade through its evaporating body to hit one of the other giant balls and send it flying through the night sky. It became a cloud in midair. The two balls that were left moved back, surprised that their prey was attacking, but they shook it off and mounted for another attack. This time, Roxas was ready.

Zexion and Roxas continued to fight off the dark creatures. Despite being injured, Roxas seemed to have an easier time killing them off with his Keyblade whereas Zexion had to use several arrows to bring most of his enemy creatures down. The creatures didn't really have a strategy against the two; the balls were attacking from above and the shadows were attacking from below and underneath, but they were just acting out on instinct, which made them fairly predictable to the combatants.

As the two battled on, a few of the little ones shied away from the fight and rose from the ground around the still-unconscious princess. They twitched around her, studying her and poking her body with their antennae. When they saw that she really was motionless, they each grabbed one of her limbs. One little shadow went to her head and grabbed her red hair harshly with its claws, which was enough to wake the girl up with a cry.

Kairi, confused at what happened, tried to get up, but the little creature yanked her hair again and forced her head down. Instantly after that, she was alert and struggling against the creatures. She screamed when she saw a ball manifesting above her.

At the second scream he heard from the princess, Zexion looked back and cursed loudly at her situation. The knight wanted to come to her aid, but he was already in his own trouble as several balls and shadows were swarming around him, and he was running low on arrows. By the time he killed them all, it would be too late. The knight looked over to see how Roxas was faring and saw the prince finish off most of the creatures around him. He had a better chance at saving the girl.

"Your majesty! The princess!" Zexion cried as he pulled out his lexicon from his robes.

Roxas had just finished off the last of the dark balls that was around him when he heard the knight. He turned and saw Kairi in distress. For a split second, he seriously considered letting them kill the girl, but he knew it probably wouldn't look good to Axel, who would probably withhold their lovemaking for a long while and make him suffer other terrible punishments. With that in mind, he ran as fast as he could to save the girl—but he wasn't sure he would make it on time due to how sluggish he was beginning to feel from all his blood loss.

He saw the ball turn its body down towards her and begin its charge. He knew he was too late.

Just then, the ball uttered a deafening cry as a giant tomahawk shot out and came between the monster's eyes and caused it to flip backwards a few times. As the creature disappeared and the weapon fell near Kairi's body, Lexaeus appeared from the forest and went to the girl's side. He grabbed his mighty weapon and swung it down one of the little shadow creatures.

Seeing their fellow monster die, three of the others let go of Kairi in favor of fighting this new opponent—though it would be in vain.

The last of the shadows was thrown off when Kairi frantically flailed her arms at it in fear. It hopped around and looked at her angrily as she tried to crawl away. It sank into the ground, swam toward her, and rose into its evil form. Just as it finished shifting, it was struck dead by the Keyblade. Lexaeus finished off the little creatures around him, and a loud cry in an ancient tongue followed by the last few balls expanding so large that they exploded into clouds with flying hearts signified the end of Zexion's battle.

With all of the creatures finally gone, Roxas dismissed the Keyblade and allowed himself to relax and fall to his knees, his bloodied left arm dangling at his side. Lexaeus was at his side in an instant to check out the wound.

"Are you all right, Prince Roxas?" he asked, ripping his sleeves to make pseudo bandages for the young royal.

"Yes," Roxas answered. "It's nothing serious; just a scratch."

The stoic knight let out a rare chuckle. "That's not what Axel is going to say when he sees this… You know how he gets whenever you get hurt."

"He goes into mother hen mode…" the prince smirked.

As the two laughed together, a small smile appeared on Zexion's face. He was relieved his partner was all right.

He looked to where Kairi was standing and looking all around her in a paranoid way. He stood next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, and she nearly yelled in fright.

"Are you all right, Princess?" Zexion asked in concern.

"Yes, I'm fine," the girl answered, though she seemed slightly shaken. She stopped looking around, in favor of staying close to the knight.

"I'm sorry for my delay, everyone," Lexaeus apologized while he finished bandaging Roxas's arm. "Like you, I was ambushed by creatures like the ones you just fought. They came at me in great numbers."

"Do you know what they were?" Roxas asked.

Lexaeus shook his head and stood up. "Sadly, I do not, sire."

"I do," Zexion announced, "but we should get back to the camp first so we can properly treat the prince's wound."

Lexaeus nodded and knelt with his back turned to Roxas, offering to carry him. The prince gratefully climbed on. Zexion picked up the wood that Lexaeus had brought, and Kairi was already rushing back to camp.

When they returned, they found that everything was normal. There was no foul scent, the horses were calm, the chocobos were curled up on themselves and fast asleep, and Axel was sitting by a fire made out of twigs and grass, their small dead animals being cooked by it on sticks. The only thing that was in any way wrong with the scene was Axel's fire, which seemed to be a bit bigger than it should be, considering the amount of grass and twigs that were being used. There was no sign of an attack of any sort by the dark creatures.

As soon as Axel spotted them, he got up to make a joke about how long it took them to come back, but when he saw Lexaeus carrying Roxas and how disheveled they all were, he quickly ran to the group.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" he demanded once he saw his lover's bandaged arm.

"We were attacked," Lexaeus answered.

Axel helped Roxas to the ground and led him to the fire and asked while fussing over the bandages, "Attacked by what, a rabid squirrel, a bear?! What did this to my Roxy?"

"It's all right. We were attacked by monsters, but we killed them," the blond prince assured his lover. "Don't worry so much; the wound is not as bad as it looks."

"Is not as bad, my ass! What sort of monsters did this?" He was trying to clean Roxas's wound.

"Heartless," Zexion answered from where he was placing some wood on the fire.

"Heartless?" Kairi repeated from next to him. Her body shivered slightly.

"Yes, those are what the creatures we encountered are called. They have that name because they attack people and steal their hearts." The bluenet finished with the wood and dusted the dirt off his hands "Some of these creatures live around the kingdoms, but they usually go by unnoticed because there are so few. However, it is here, around the Dark Kingdom, where they thrive."

Kairi looked at the deep part of the forest uneasily before turning back to Zexion. "I never knew creatures like the Heartless existed. Where did they even come from?"

Zexion took the time to eat some of the leftover berries before he continuing, "They are the Dark Kingdom's punishment, courtesy of the god, Xemnas."

"Punishment?" the girl asked.

The knight nodded. "Long ago, the people angered their god. He sent many of the Heartless, creatures that are supposedly formed by peoples' inner darkness, after them. They had no way of appeasing him for a long time until they gave up a human sacrifice. After that, Xemnas didn't bring any more Heartless—but he didn't take them away, either. They are here to stay, forever trying to consume the hearts of any weak people they come across."

"That's so frightening," Kairi commented. "What could the Dark people have done to deserve such punishment?"

Zexion shook his head. "No one knows—not even the Dark people themselves know. Some think that the tribute they made during one of their worshipping ceremonies didn't please him. Others say the people were bad. Whatever the case may be, the Dark Kingdom was forever changed because of these terrible creatures."

The group stayed quiet for a bit to let this information set in, the sounds of the fire crackling and of a chocobo snoring the only things to be heard.

"So… the Heartless…" Axel began slowly as he finished rewrapping Roxas's arm. "Well, they're not something we were expected to face. Pretty dangerous things, by the looks of things. So, Kairi…" He turned to the princess and stared right into her midnight eyes. "Do you want to continue with your quest after seeing those Heartless things? We could try another kingdom."

Everyone waited patiently for her answer. She twiddled her fingers nervously for a while as she thought. It was a few more minutes before she decided.

"We're going to continue the Dark Kingdom," the girl stated slowly. "We've come this far, so we shouldn't back out. We did just fine with monsters we were with, and we'll continue to do fine if we continue on." She looked up and smiled brightly at each of the knights. "You aren't the best knights of the Earth Kingdom for nothing."

"Then it's settled," Lexaeus announced. "We'll continue in the morning and rest tonight. In the meantime, Zexion, Axel, and I shall keep a lookout for more Heartless."

"I will keep watch first," Zexion stated softly.

"Sounds good to me," Axel smirked. He looked at Roxas with some worry, though, and asked, "Will you be all right with your arm like that?"

"You know I will be," Roxas answered, flexing his arm.

The redheaded knight smiled in satisfaction before getting one of the animals off the fire to eat. The prince rolled his eyes at his lover before doing the same.

But while he ate, he couldn't help thinking that it was crazy for them to continue with their journey. Why were they even doing this? Surely they could go to another god for help without running the risk of being killed. Roxas had a bad feeling about this…

**In the God World…**

Standing on the balcony overlooking his garden, Riku was at peace. He liked looking down on his garden from this particular balcony. It soothed him to see all the plants he was taking care of looking so lovely and vibrant and well-kept—even the river added to its beauty, the rushing water shimmering in the moon's light. Riku doted on every one lovingly like a protective father watching over his children. He and Marluxia were evenly matched when it came to loving their plants—although, Riku didn't show it around the other gods as much. Yes, this garden of his always helped him keep his mind off his worries.

Like Sora.

Riku had been worried about how he would adapt to living with the gods, but the boy seemed to be doing well. He got along well with most of the gods and demigods. Sora got along with the moogles, too—except for one, but that was only because the temptation to touch its pom-pom was simply too great for the poor boy. It was almost cute to see Sora fussing over and apologizing to the little cat-like creature after it got angry with him and had a little tantrum.

Another time Sora happened to be cute was when they spent their first night together in bed. The first thing out of the boy's mouth was a long rant about being stripped of his clothing and not wanting his innocence taken away, whatever that meant. He threatened to find some place else to sleep if he was ever naked in bed again. Riku agreed to never again take off the boy's clothes after succumbing to the wide-eyed angry pout Sora unleashed on him.

One of the things Sora liked to do was ask about the different myths and legends he was so familiar with. It stroked a lot of gods' egos just to see those pretty blue eyes grow wide with wonder and amazement at them—there were a few stories which had been over-exaggerated just to bring out more of that look. Even the God of Earth was guilty of doing that a few times.

Riku frowned at a sudden thought. Sora didn't really do much other than observe and talk to everyone. Eventually, the novelty of being the first human in this world would wear off for him since there wasn't much for a human to do—and it's not as though he was a demigod who could help out… Would Sora even want to become a demi if given the chance?

Riku shook his head, trying to rid himself of all thought. This was exactly why he came to the balcony. His mind was always on Sora. Not only that, but he even dreamed about the boy—he _never_ dreamed about anyone before. Everything that was going on… it was all so strange to the young god.

"Oh, Riku, there you are!" came the voice of a certain brunet boy, soon followed by the sound of the balcony door opening. "What are you doing out here so late?"

Riku turned to find the one who captured his thoughts approaching him with two cups in his hands. He smiled brightly at the god, and Riku's heart nearly fluttered as he replied, "I was just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Sora offered him a cup.

Riku took it and looked back to the garden. "I honestly don't really know what. It may be something. It may be nothing. But I'm actually trying not to think about it."

Sora gave him a confused look and laughed. "You can be so odd sometimes, Riku," he said as he came to stand by the god. When he looked at the scenery below, he gasped, "Is that the garden? It's so beautiful from up here!"

Riku smiled and nodded proudly. "It sure is…"

He took a sip of his drink. He drew his eyebrows together in confusion before he took another sip to confirm what he thought. "This tastes like the tea Marly makes," he commented.

"That's because it is," the other replied with a smirk. "I asked him to make it for us."

The silveret quirked a brow. "I'm surprised you'd let him handle anything for you to ingest after what he did to you."

Sora laughed. "You don't have to worry about that; I saw everything he did when he made it. Not only that, Selphie was with me, and she was watching him like a hawk." A wry smile came on his face. "Have you noticed that the way she sometimes acts around me is almost like how an overprotective sister acts?"

"Actually, I have. She seems to have really taken a shine to you ever since I brought you here." Silver brows were brought together in thought. "Now that I think about it, she's not the only one who has an unusual interest in you. My brother and his lovers seem to have something going on, as well."

"I think you're right… Sephiroth is always giving me strange looks, and Cloud and Leon are always teasing me about something or other."

"How strange…"

They stood together in silence, pondering over what was going on. Then Sora grinned and mused, "Maybe it's all connected somehow: Marluxia's slipping me those plants, Selphie's over-protectiveness, and whatever it is that's going on with your brother and the others."

"And what sort of connection could there possibly be?"

Sora shrugged. "I don't know; it's only speculation. But wouldn't it be interesting if there was one?"

Riku snorted. A connection? Like some sort of scheme had been formed amongst them? That was a laughable idea. No, nothing like that was going on. It was a normal occurrence for the Love Goddess to attach herself to people for a while. As for his brother and lovers… actually, those three were a mystery. Best not to figure out what's going on in their minds. And Marluxia, well, he just enjoyed tormenting people and ticking Riku off. There was no way they would all get together for some strange and mysterious reason. No, they were all just acting on their strange tendencies because they were excited by all the changes that were happening. It's not as though they knew some mysterious secret about Sora. They knew nothing about him or what he wanted or what he needed. Nothing. Actually…

Neither did Riku.

He knew next to nothing about Sora; the ex-prince rarely spoke about his life, always wanting to know about everyone and everything else. All he knew was what learned from his stay at the palace, and even that wasn't a lot. So what exactly did Sora want?

A soul mate. That was the only thing he ever talked about. Riku didn't really understand the whole concept of the words even though there was a good example of it with his brother. And based on the brunet's description, he wondered if Sora was his soul mate.

The god felt an attraction to the boy, from the clear blue eyes to the wild chestnut brown hair to that nicely-shaped body. But it wasn't just a physical attraction, though. Riku always cared about Sora's thoughts and feelings, and he felt happy when Sora was happy. He was constantly worried about him and always got a pleasant tingly feeling inside whenever he thought about the boy—and when he looked into those eyes… wow…

But was that what it all meant? Riku was so confused. There were still a lot of feelings he just didn't understand yet. He just knew that Sora was the key to them all. Was there enough time to figure all this out, though? Humans had such short lifespans…

"You look like you have something on your mind," the brunet's voice cut through his thoughts.

Riku nodded and gave Sora a sidelong glance as he tried to choose his next words carefully.

"So, Sora," he began slowly, "are you enjoying yourself here in this world?"

Sora smiled brightly. "Yes, of course I am. It's like a dream that I've yet to wake up from."

"Have you wondered what it would be like to continue that dream?"

The boy narrowed his eyes a bit and tilted his head suspiciously. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Would you ever consider becoming a demigod?"

There was a pause. "Hmm…"

Riku peered at the human from the corner of his eye again. The brunet was looking down with his hand at his chin. He seemed to really be mulling over the question.

"Well…" the boy began, "I'm not sure I would. It would be interesting to be able to bend an element to my will and to live for a long time, but I can't picture myself as one." He thought a bit more. "No, I don't think I could. Maybe someday I'll think differently and change my mind, but for now, I'd like to stay the way I am."

Riku raised his eyebrows. "I'm surprised, Sora. I've never seen anyone think so deeply about it and then say no. Most humans would jump at the chance."

"Well, I'm not like most humans," Sora smirked as he rested his arms on the banister. [4]

They were quiet once again, listening to the night air. Riku wasn't getting anywhere with the sort of questions he was asking. But there was one thing he still wanted to know. Perhaps it could help with his own muddled thoughts.

"Tell me more about why you're looking for your soul mate," the young god said. "What is so important about having one?"

Sora rested his head on his shoulders and sighed. "It's because of my mother. Not only was she the one who put the idea in my head, but also…" Another sigh. "I don't think she had a chance to be with hers. I know she loved my father; she loved him with all her heart, but even I could see that there was something missing in their relationship. She was miserable at the same time as she wasn't. I'm not sure how to explain it, but I don't want to end up that way. I want to be completely happy with the one I spend my life with.

"And then… there's another reason…" Sora's face suddenly flushed.

Riku tilted his head to the side. "Sora, why are you blushing?"

Sora blushed even more and turned his face in the other direction. "Well…"

The silveret became more interested in Sora's reactions. "What is it? Is it something bad or embarrassing?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just that…" His cheeks flushed even more. "I prefer men over women… But I've never been able to act on it because of my betrothal, so I feel rather awkward about it. And I've never even admitted it to anyone before now—although, I'm sure my brother and his lover have suspected it. I just know that my ideal lover is a male."

Riku almost couldn't believe his ears. It was too good to be true. He could actually feel his stomach flipping over that tiny fact. Perhaps if he got lucky and worked on this a bit more, then he and Sora could explore these feelings together. But was Sora even interested in him? There was one way to find out…

Riku smiled almost evilly and pursed his lips together in a thoughtful way. "Now that you no longer have any responsibilities as a prince, you can act all you want."

Blue eyes glared warily into aquamarine. "What are you getting at?"

"Well… there are many demigods here. You do a little acting with them for a while until you find that person you're looking for." He then smirked teasingly while his eyes narrowed almost evilly. "Or would you rather go a step further? Might you be interested in a god?"

"What?" Sora squawked.

"Oh, then you do fancy one of us," the silveret chuckled as he moved very close to Sora. "So which one of us is it? Who is the god you have your eye on? You know, that should be reason enough to want to become a demigod…"

"What? Wait, stop!" Sora sputtered as he leaned back, that flush coming back as bright as ever. "Why don't we talk about something else?"

Riku pulled away, shaking his head and laughing with delight at Sora's embarrassment. He loved Sora's face; it was so honest and expressive. The boy was not like that painting he saw in the castle. "Not like that painting at all," he muttered.

"Did you say something?" Sora asked as he began to calm down just a little.

The Earth God smirked. "I was just thinking about how you're not like a certain painting of you I saw back in the palace. It was that terrible one of you holding that giant key. You looked so stiff in it, and the clothes were very unflattering. It didn't show who you really are. I think your family should fire its painter because the only thing I liked at all was that key. It looked familiar somehow. It made me feel nostalgic."

Sora gave him a confused look before his eyes widened in understanding. "You must be referring to the Keyblade. Well, it should look familiar; it's similar to Hikaru's mighty weapon—In fact, he gave it to me when I was born."

"You know Hikaru?" the god turned to him in awe. "That's amazing; he hasn't been around here for a long time—I was still very small when he left, so I barely remember him at all. How has he been?"

Sora's eyes suddenly grew in shock. "He hasn't been here in that long? But I was hoping to thank him for the gift."

Riku could only shrug. "I'm sorry, but none of the gods have seen hide nor hair of him in centuries." Riku looked over by Sora and tried to give him an encouraging smile. "But don't fret, Sora. At least we know he's still alive—or at least was not long ago. He may come back. His sister still believes that, at least."

"But… how can this be? What about the Light Kingdom?" Sora asked.

"Oh, Selphie is watching over it and all of Hikaru's other domains," the silveret replied. "She's only doing it until there is a new Light God to take over." He frowned and shook his head in disappointment. "It's a shame, really. She has been doing two gods' worth of work without any help or any complaints ever since he left her as a young godling. I think Hikaru is a selfish bastard for not being here and doing his share, but as long as there isn't some other Light God to come and claim his place, his sister will continue to do his work. She will never give up on his return so long as that doesn't happen."

Riku sighed before stretching his body out.

"Well, I should go check up on Marluxia before going to bed," he yawned as he took his and Sora's cup. Then he offered his hand to the boy. "Care to join me?"

Sora shook his head dumbly, still in shock over the news he had just heard.

Riku left him, having many thoughts about the human. He was sure now that he wanted to be with Sora. Perhaps he could find a way gain Sora's affection…

Meanwhile, Sora was dumbfounded. Hikaru hadn't been in the God World for _centuries_? It didn't make sense. A thousand and more questions were popping into his head—

Where was Hikaru? Why did he give Sora the Keyblade? What the hell was going on?

**[1]: Yes, I named the horse AkuRoku. I actually named him that while I was writing chapter 6, but I couldn't find a place to put it. But yes, that's what the horse's name is. Let's call it Axel's silly/cute way to show his love for Roxas. ^_^ Good AkuRoku.**

**[2]: I believe in Chapter 3, I made Zexion the descendant of hunters or something along the lines of that. So, I decided that along with the lexicon, he would be using arrows to make his kill—the lexicon would be more of a last resort type of thing, you know? So that's what's going on with that. Plus, I can totally see him with a bow and arrow. ***_**drools**_*****

**[3]: You know, I was seriously freaking out over the fact that I mentioned jack o' lanterns here—like really stressing out over it. But then I remembered something: this is fanfiction! What's more, it's my fanfic! I can put a pink polka-dotted dragon that breathes flowers and pixie dust in here if I wanted to! So yeah. They have jack o' lanterns in this little world/universe thing. ^_^**

**[4]: What do you call the rail part of a balcony? Seriously, I've been sweating and going nuts over this. I asked Lady Tsukiyomi/Ice Demon Allysandra what it was, and she gave me that, which is what I originally guessed, but I second-guess myself so much. Is that what you would really call it?**

**A/N: And there it is! The chapter that's been driving me nuts for half a year! I hope it all makes sense and stuff…**

**To anyone who is wondering, it was the Heartless battle that I loved writing. Seriously, when that battle came into my mind, I couldn't stop writing until it was all done. I have no clue how that battle or the way that I wrote it measures up to the way others would write a battle scene, but I am proud of what I did there. And I have Lady Tsukiyomi/Ice Demon Allysandra to thank for it. If not for all the RP's we've been doing together these last six, seven months, I don't think that would have ever shown up. So thank you.**

**Ok. I'm just about done talking. Once again, I really hope you enjoyed this. Please review if you liked it! n_n**


	8. Chapter 8 Part 1

**A/N: Ice Demon Allysandra: Hello, kitties. I usually don't collaborate with mere mortals but in New Light's case, I'll make an exception.**

**New Light: Yay! I'm special. XD**

**Allysandra: Yes, of course you are, tiny human. *rolls eyes***

**New Light: *celebrates in my own little mind then remembers the readers* Oh! Howdy, folks! Welcome to the next chapter of Prince's Hope, where I decided to post this fic on Christmas (actually, Boxing Day now that I look at the clock….) instead of December 16****th**** because I got a little behind… *sweatdrops…* As you can see, I brought a special guest with me for this special little area where I usually blab and freak out and stuff. Say hello to Ice Demon ****Allysandra****! *presses applause button***

**Allysandra: No need, dear. *Takes fearsome sword out* Applaud, puny mortals! *Puts sword away* Anyway, I'm delighted to be here. What's this? *Puts on glasses and reads from prompter* Enjoy the last chapter of Prince's Hope… right. Well, enjoy, kitties.**

**New Light: What? No! This isn't the last chapter! It's probably far from it. *sweatdrops…***

**Allysandra: I'd fire whoever's manning the prompter then, dear. Shall I call a certain fire demon I know for the job?**

**New Light: Ooh, ok! I love seeing him at work. ^_^**

**Allysandra: Anywho, we'll return later to view how this fic is rotting your minds judging from all the reviews. Merry Christmas to all and to all a blood red night**

**New Light: *watches her leave, then turns back to the readers* ****Well, that's it, everyone! While Allysandra and I watch the prompter person burn, please enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 8 Part 1**

**Up in the God World, Way Up High…**

Sora was lying on his back in Riku's bed. His left leg was propped up and his right knee was bouncing up and down on it in frustration as he glared at the ceiling in thought. For days, his mind had been on the same subject: the Light God.

It bothered him that Hikaru hadn't been around in so long. He was even more bothered that no one seemed worried about it. Sora was amazed that Xemnas hadn't taken advantage of Hikaru's absence and tried to spread his darkness or something. Perhaps Sephiroth had something to do with that. Or maybe it was because Hikaru's job was currently being done by Selphie.

Selphie… Sora hadn't gotten a chance to speak to her in a while because she was traveling in other worlds doing her work. And since she was doing twice the work, it was taking her longer to come back than all the other gods who regularly visited other worlds. But she would be the perfect person to talk to about Hikaru and where he may have gone.

There had to be clues somewhere, though… Perhaps if he went to Hikaru's room… Should he go there snooping around for clues that may not even be there? It may be worth it. He didn't have anything else to do.

His mind made up, Sora hopped off the bed and went down a few halls to stop at the Light God's door.

When he reached out to place his hand on the handle, he had a sudden thought. It was more of a feeling, actually. A familiar feeling, like he had come through this door many times. But that's just silly!

"What are you doing, Sora?" a cheerful voice asked.

Frightened, Sora yelled and whirled about to face a newly returned Selphie.

"Selphie! Don't scare me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I just couldn't resist! You're such an easy target," the Love Goddess giggled. "Anyway, what are you doing in front of my brother's room?"

Sora blushed at being caught in the act. "I…well, I…"

Selphie smiled at him knowingly. "You want to find clues about where my brother may have gone, is that it?"

Sora blinked. "How did you know?"

"I heard you were asking about him," she giggled as she grabbed the handle. "Well, let's go in?"

Sora blinked again. "You're not upset that I was trying to sneak in?"

The goddess shrugged. "Why should I be? Hikaru isn't here, and I've been watching his room for all this time. I know every inch of it, so even if you misplace something, I can put it right back. Plus, if there is a clue to where my beloved Hikaru went, it'd be nice to see if a fresh set of eyes can find it."

"Oh. Then thank you."

Selphie smiled and opened the door for him. It was a fairly neat room. On one side was the bed, a dresser, and on the other side was a large window facing to the east. By the bed was a desk with many scrolls, papers, and books covering it. There was no ceiling, so the room was bright from the light of the sun above, and somehow it created a circle of light in the center of the room.

"This is it," Selphie announced. "Feel free to read those papers if you want."

Sora nodded his thanks and went to do just that, reaching for the closest book. He slowly walked around the room as he read it.

The book was Hikaru's journal, and the god had very detailed entries about how he lived. Sora could almost picture everything as though he had seen it through his eyes, whether it was about how his work went or how Selphie had acted. Actually… there were many entries about the Love Goddess. She must have been a child at the time because Hikaru kept writing about how adorable she was and how fast she was growing. They had been very close.

Skimming through to later passages, Sora found more and more writings about Xemnas. That was when Hikaru's writing style began to change. The entries were either full of anger or of concern over all of the clashes they had been having. Hikaru made many attempts to make peace with Xemnas, but they were all failures. Eventually, there were times when Hikaru mentioned a war and how he wasn't sure how things would turn out…

Sora was becoming so engrossed in Hikaru's diary that he practically jumped out of his skin when Selphie touched his shoulder. He dropped the book and stepped back into the circle of light. Everything became a blaze of warm, golden light, and Sora felt a surge of energy go through his body.

And then all at once, the feeling was gone. He was back in Hikaru's room, and Selphie was putting the book back on the desk.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked.

"What do you mean what happened?" the girl asked.

"Didn't you see it?"

"See what?"

"The light."

Selphie gave him a strange look. "There was no light, Sora," she said slowly. "Nothing happened. Maybe you just imagined it."

Sora wondered if he did indeed imagine it. But it was all so strange…

He finally snapped out of it and looked at the desk. "Is this all there is here?" he asked.

Selphie nodded. "Everything you need to know about him is in there. I've read those things so many times."

"So I will be able to find out what made him leave, then?"

Brown curls moved side to side as she shook her head. "There's nothing in there that says exactly why he left, although there was one big thing that contributed to his disappearance."

"And what was that?" Sora asked curiously.

"Xemnas, that's what," Selphie snorted as she moved to the bed. "I swear, since I can remember, they were always at each other's throats. It's hard to believe they were ever friends!"

"Friends?" It was hard for Sora to picture Xemnas with any friends. "What happened between them?"

"Oh, I don't know," Selphie sighed while she fell back on the bed. "They saw things differently and had so many disagreements that by the end of it all they couldn't even be in the same room together without fighting."

"So what happened the last time they fought?" the prince asked. "From scanning his journal, I could tell things were bad."

Selphie nodded and took a moment to think back, grimacing at the old memories.

"Hikaru was concerned about how Xemnas was running his domains," she answered. "Eventually they had a huge fight—one that was felt throughout all worlds. All Light and Dark domains were at war with each other for years while the two fought with everything they had. By the end of it all, Xemnas and Hikaru were badly injured, and most Light and Dark domains hated each other and still do to this day.

"After the fight," she continued, "my brother told me he had to go away for a while. He made 'a while' seem like a temporary thing." Selphie's voice hitched, and a small tear ran down her cheek. "He simply patted me on the head and left to travel the worlds. I haven't seen him since."

So that was what happened. It was so complicated, but it all started with Xemnas. He shouldn't have been surprised. Light and Dark were opposites, after all. By why did Hikaru leave? Was it just to get away from Xemnas? Or something else?

Sora looked sympathetically at Selphie and asked, "So you've been taking care of Hikaru's work ever since?"

The goddess nodded and wiped the tear away. "Some of the others think he's dead, but I still hold on to my hope that he'll come home soon. Until then, the Light has to be protected by someone. It's hard work, but there are only so many things I can do because I don't control Light. Luckily, our great leader Sephiroth helps me with some tasks. I just want things to be in order until Hikaru comes back."

"Do you think really think you can get things back to the way they were?"

Selphie sighed and shook her head. "Maybe not back to the way they were exactly, but I still want him here. I have to believe he'll come, Sora. Otherwise, what's the point in all of this waiting if it's only going to break my heart more and more?"

Looking at Selphie, Sora couldn't help but think about his own brother. Did Roxas have similar hopes for his brother's return? He shouldn't have; Sora had made it aware to him that he might not be back. Of course, maybe Roxas's thoughts have changed since he undoubtedly knew about Riku taking him, but it still didn't change the fact that Sora purposefully left the one who was closest to him. At least Axel was with him…

He was suddenly pulled away from his thoughts when Selphie stood and stretched her arms over her head. "My break is over now, Sora; I'm a busy girl," she explained. "Will you be staying long?"

Sora shook his head and also stood. "I think I'll go to the gardens to ponder over everything you've told me before I do anything else."

Selphie nodded. "That's fine by me. You have my permission to come in anytime you'd like. You can take Hikaru's books, too; he never really cared if anyone read them."

"Thank you, Selphie."

Selphie smiled one last time before she left. Sora left soon afterwards and made his way towards his destination.

As he walked, his thoughts were all about the Light God. There were quite a few similarities between him and Hikaru. And he felt a sort of connection when he read through the journal. He would have to read more to really get into the god's head. It wouldn't be an easy task…

While the young prince's mind was preoccupied, he found himself in front of the garden doors and entered. He followed the path that would eventually take him to the river, which he found very soothing whenever he had to think. As he walked the path, he heard a slight rustling sound nearby. He hid behind a bush and peered through it to investigate. And his eyes grew to the size of plates.

He saw Riku…

And Riku was dancing…

Naked!

The ex-prince was completely mesmerized by the sight of the silveret dancing before him. His movements were graceful, fluid, and hypnotizing. His muscles rippled beneath his smooth, flawless, pale skin. His aquamarine eyes were closed, but not in concentration. It was as though he trusted every step he took, so sure he would never make a false move.

And how could he when he had his trusty plants around him? All of them, even the trees, seemed to move with Riku. There were even several vines that were loosely wrapping and sliding themselves along the muscles of the god's arms, legs, and torso, yet they didn't hinder his performance in any way.

Sora was completely captivated by the dance. It was… he couldn't even explain how it made him feel. All he knew was that he was the luckiest human in all the worlds for witnessing this.

And he wanted to join in.

The realization almost surprised the young human as he continued his watch… and then without meaning to, he looked further down. A light moan sounded from his throat as he saw the one thing he had been curious about since the incident with Selphie and Demyx. He was in no way disappointed by what he saw.

His tongue poked out to lick lips that were suddenly dry while his eyes were fixed on that one point. He became jealous of those vines wrapped around those thighs, how close they were to that thing he so wanted to touch. He wished he was one of those vines. Any moment, they could decide to slide up and—

Another moan sounded from his throat, this one louder than the last, and all at once, the dance was done. Riku and the garden stopped moving, and the vines came in front of the young god, protecting their master. Riku looked in Sora's general direction and called out, "Who's there?"

Sora had already fallen back and tried to stay quiet, his heart thundering in his ears. At Riku's second call, he did the only thing he could think of—he ran as fast as he could. He just couldn't stay back and explain why he had been watching the dance.

Finally reaching the exit, Sora swung the door wide open and slammed it shut. He leaned against the door, gasping as he tried to catch his breath.

"Oh my, what happened, Sora?" an amused voice asked.

"What? No, nothing happened," Sora rattled as he turned around to find Marluxia standing nearby.

An all-knowing smirk appeared on the demigod's face. "I take it that Riku is doing his dance in there?"

Sora blushed brightly but didn't say a word.

"Tell me, Sora," the leering demi continued, "has he started rolling around in the mud yet? That's my favorite part."

"W-what?" Sora's body became impossibly red as his mind began to supply naughty images of Riku in mud.

Marluxia's smile wouldn't stop growing. "Shall I give you some privacy so you can fix that problem you have down there?"

Sora's brows knitted together in confusion, and his eyes went down to see whatever the problem was. He was appalled by the sight of the tent between his legs. His entire body turned a new shade of red as his hands tried to cover the area and he wished the earth would swallow him up. His body suddenly froze when he felt a pair of arms winding around his neck. The Marluxia tucked his head in Sora's neck and nuzzled him.

"Oh, Sora, you're so adorable when you're flustered…" the brunket murmured. [1]

Sora was shocked by what was happening and struggled against the demigod. "S-stop!"

"I'm only trying to help you with your little problem," was the sensual reply. One arm came down his body, the fingers dancing down his abdomen to where his hands were and tried to pull them away.

"No! Let me go!" Sora yelled, but Marluxia wouldn't stop.

Panicked, Sora suddenly wrenched Marluxia's hands off and forced the demigod against the wall with surprising strength. Marluxia was neither afraid nor surprised by this reaction. In fact, he was laughing as he plucked Sora's hands off his shoulders.

"Oh, don't worry, Sora; I was only playing with you."

"You play a little too much," Sora hissed. "You've been close to molesting me since we met! Would you mind telling me why?"

Marluxia only dusted his clothes off and said, "It's nothing for you to worry about, alright? I was only testing you."

"Testing me? Why?" Sora was confused now.

Marluxia placed a single finger on Sora's lips. "For my own reasons, that's why. But as I said, you have nothing to worry about."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to you," Sora sighed. "I just can't read you. Sometimes I wonder if you're attracted to me or something."

Marluxia burst out laughing. "I suppose should clear that up," the demigod snorted. "I am in no way attracted to you—or Riku, for that matter. My tastes are more… dark and wolfish, if you know what I mean."

"I don't."

The brunket was about to speak when something caught his eye, and he turned his head and let out a yearning moan. Sora blinked in surprise and looked to see what could possibly have made Marluxia react this way.

At the other end of the hall, he saw another demigod, Saïx, passing the intersection and looking preoccupied. With pale skin the color of moonlight, long blue hair, pointed and pierced ears, and golden eyes, he was a mysterious creature. There was an odd X-shaped scar on his face, adding to the enigma that was Saïx. He was someone who mostly kept to himself and followed his master, Xemnas's orders. Not much else was known about him except for some reason, he would go back to his world every fifty or so years and become the high priest for a few years and then come back.

"You like _him_?" Sora asked once Saïx was out of sight.

"He's very sexy, and we have a lot in common," Marluxia explained. "And just look at him! Wouldn't he make a fabulous lover?"

Sora looked at him incredulously and shook his head. "I… I have to go, Marluxia. You can have fun by testing someone else."

"Aw, going already?" the demigod pouted as the prince turned to leave. "Don't you want to watch Riku's dance again? I'm sure he won't mind."

Those words brought images of a naked Riku rushing to the front of the prince's mind, and his lower parts were suddenly reawakened. Covering himself again, he uttered a few curses at the mischievous demigod. He could hear Marluxia's evil snickering followed by the sound of the garden's door shutting.

Hoping that he wouldn't run into anyone else, Sora once again ran and didn't stop until he reached his room. He quickly shut the door and launched himself into bed to take care of his aching arousal.

With a shuddering breath, Sora undid his pants and slid them down to his knees and grasped his erection. He breathed out a sigh of relief as he brought his hands up and down his shaft familiarly. He kept thinking about his god, how gorgeous he was.

His hands were now flying up and down his penis as he tried to bring climax. He was so close, so, so close…

An image suddenly sprang into his mind: Riku looking at him lustfully as he pushed into Sora's entrance with a powerful thrust.

With one last stroke, he was violently spurting his warm seed into the sheets beneath him, crying out Riku's name.

It took a few minutes before Sora was coherent enough to actually think, though his mind was still, if not a little, foggy.

Alright, so he was a little attracted to the Earth God. So? That meant nothing. And he masturbated to thoughts of him. Nothing unusual. It wasn't as though it was his first time doing it with such thoughts. No. So, this didn't mean anything… right?

Right. This was just a physical attraction, that's all. Nothing to worry about. He could still go about looking for his soul mate and not feel guilty.

Sora nodded in satisfaction at those thoughts and relaxed into the sheets—only to be met with a wet reminder of what he had just done. With a dejected groan, Sora got out of bed, gathered the soiled sheets, and called a moogle to wash them and bring new ones in.

**[1]: I decided to use "brunket" to describe Marluxia's hair since it used to be that brownish color and now it's pink. Maybe I'll have him die it to pink later on, but for now, he's a brunket. Besides, if I had called him a brunet, it might have caused confusion on who I was talking about.**

**A/N: New Light: And now we're back! How was the chapter? *Is still blushing because of the last part***

**Ice Demon Allysandra *from backstage*: Hey, New Light! You just missed Axel and Roxas! I have signed photos!**

**New Light: Yay! Save some for me! And some for the AkuRoku fans who happen to be reading this, too. *turns back to the readers* I'm sorry about how short this turned out. I was only able to fix up the first part of the story before today, and the rest doesn't want to get fixed yet! I'm so sorry about this. Part 2 will be coming soon. Maybe (hopefully) before New Year's.**

**Allysandra: Oooh! Invitations to the World That Never Was' New Year's Party!**

**New Light: YAHOO!! Thank you, Axel and Roxas! ^_^**

**Oh, before I forget, along with the next part, I will also be fixing up a silly little story that dear Ice Demon ****Allysandra ****and I worked on a few weeks ago in an attempt to freak the hell out of a friend, so look out for that, too! It's called "How the Organization Ruined Christmas," and I think Ice Demon ****Allysandra**** will be the one to post it. There are many references to the Org LIX version of Organization XII, so if anyone's a fan of Org LIX and/or evil Furbies, we hope you'll enjoy it.**

**Allysandra: On to the story!**

**New Light: Um… the story is already done for now… You'll have to wait until I get the next part is up, dear.**

**Allysandra: Oh damn. Hey, let's boil someone alive in future chapters.**

**New Light: O_O Um… we'll see if things go in that direction…**

**Anyway, don't forget to review! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's!**


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